Don’t brush migraines off. There are about 12M Filipinos suffering from it

It's easy to brush migraine off as a simple headache, but according to the Migraine Research Foundation (2015), they are actually a headache disorder that involves recurrent attacks of moderate to severe head pain.

It is typically throbbing, often on just one side of the head, and is accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, sound, and odors. Sometimes, there is a pulsing sensation in the head, and often it lasts up to 72 hours. Bad attacks can last for even days at a time.

It can get pretty bad that migraines impede from doing your usual daily activities.

According to Dr. Regina Macalintal-Canlas, President of the Philippine Headache Society (PHS), around 12 million Filipinos suffer from migraine.

“Migraine is not just a simple headache," she said. "It is among the 48 diseases that account for 80% of the daily adjusted life years (DALYs) in the country.” 

DALYs are measurements of years-of-life lost due to premature death, including years lost to disability for people living with the health condition and its consequences. 

Migraine is among the top ten most debilitating disorders worldwide and particularly affects young and middle-aged women. 

Sadly, migraine is a widely misunderstood condition. Migraneurs (migraine sufferers) do not just suffer from the pain brought about by the condition, but also from the misconception that it is just a headache.

“People with migraine may experience a lack of empathy from employers and colleagues when frequent migraine attacks prevent them from delivering optimal work outputs, ” Dr. Canlas said.

According to the 2016 fact sheet of the World Health Organization (WHO), in the United Kingdom alone, some 25 million working or school days are
lost every year because of migraine.

Ninety percent (90%) of people report they cannot work or function with a migraine. Imagine the time lost to suffering from migraine that would have otherwise been spent working or studying.

Dr. Canlas, who is one of the country’s twenty or so headache masters, believes that proper management of migraine can help enhance work productivity, which in the long term, can be beneficial to one’s family and professional life, even to our country’s economic growth.

She advises migraneurs to change their lifestyle and avoid certain food items that could trigger an attack, like chocolates, food with too much MSG, and processed meat. 

Another thing that could trigger a migraine attack? Stress. 

If you think there is an impending attack, take an analgesic. And if you are experiencing sensitivity to light, try going inside a dark room.

She reiterated avoiding food rich in MSG and chocolates.

Managing migraine requires a lifestyle change. It can be done. — LA, GMA News