News!

1 in 3 women will experience a migraine attack at some point in their life. Migraine is three times more common in women than in men. Where does that difference come from? Physician-researcher Britt van der Arend and neurologist Gisela Terwindt explain it in an interview with Quest magazine. Read the article here (in Dutch).

Anti-CGRP medications seem to work just as well in women with menstrual migraine as in women with migraine that is not menstrual related. This research suggests that the use of anti-CGRP (receptor) antibodies may lead to a reduction in the number of migraine days throughout all days of the menstrual cycle. The finding also supports the preventive use of these antibodies in women with menstrual migraines. The entire article can be read here.

A third of all women will suffer from migraines during their lifetime, compared to ‘only’ one in nine men. Where do those differences come from? Libelle asked (headache) neurologist Gisela Terwindt and PhD Candidate Britt van der Arend. Read the article here (in Dutch).

Does chocolate help with migraines and does coffee cause headaches? It is often said that food can prevent, cause, worsen, or reduce headaches. What are the facts and what are the myths? Neurologist Gisela Terwindt and medical researcher Britt van der Arend gave an interview in the magazine Libelle about the relationship between food and headaches, and food and migraines. You can read the article here (in Dutch).

New research from our group shows that self-reported menstrual migraine diagnosis has extremely poor accuracy. Two thirds of women suffer from menstrual migraine, independent of self-reports. Pure menstrual migraine is rare. Women with menstrual migraine have longer attack duration and increased triptan intake during perimenstrual attacks, in contrast to women without menstrual migraine. Prospective headache (E-)diaries are required for a menstrual migraine diagnosis, also in clinical practice. Read the article here.

Migraine is a brain disease that occurs three times more often in women than in men. Changes are also seen throughout a woman’s life course. Hormone fluctuations play a role in this, but the exact pathophysiology is still unknown. The drop in estrogen just before menstruation may lower the threshold for having a migraine attack. Migraine attacks are therefore more often seen in the period of two days before the first day of the menstrual bleeding up to three days later. These so-called perimenstrual attacks are more severe and longer of duration. As a result, the headache returns more often after taking a triptan (recurrence), because the effect duration of a triptan is too short for the duration of the migraine attack. Therefore, there is a great need for a woman-specific (hormonal) treatment for migraines. Read the full article here (in Dutch).