Key Questions
- What are the two primary types of migraine?
- Can migraine with aura occur without the head pain?
- What types of head pain can occur with migraine?
- Are patients with aura more at risk of stroke?
- Should women with migraine with aura take estrogen-containing pills for contraception?
- How can we tell the difference between migraine with aura and a stroke
- How soon after an aura begins should the patient take their migraine medications?
- What are some medications used to prevent migraine with aura?
- What are some medications for patients with hemiplegic migraine or basilar-type migraine?
Interview Notes
Find more about Shazia Afridi, MD, PhD and her work here:
Key Questions
- Why do some people with migraine experience dizziness or balance issues while others do not?
- Is it true that you can have migraine without having headache?
- How is vestibular migraine diagnosed?
- Why are individuals with vestibular migraine often misdiagnosed?
- What are some of the symptoms that people with vestibular migraine experience?
- Do people with vestibular migraine have different triggers than people with migraine in general?
- What treatments are available for vestibular migraine?
- Is physical therapy or vestibular rehab an alternative treatment available for those with vestibular migraine?
- Is diet something that should be considered when living with vestibular migraine?
Interview Notes
Find more about Michael Teixido, MD and his work here:
Key Questions
- Why is low-pressure headache misdiagnosed as chronic migraine?
- What is postural headache?
- What exactly is cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)?
- What are high- and low-pressure headaches?
- What are the risk factors for high- and low-pressure headaches?
- What are the symptoms of high-pressure headache (pseudotumor cerebri or idiopathic intracranial hypertension)?
- What is papilledema and how is it used to diagnose high-pressure headache?
- What is a spinal tap?
- How is high-pressure headache treated?
- What is low-pressure headache (spontaneous intracranial hypotension, or SIH)?
- What are the treatments for low pressure, or SIH?
Interview Notes
Find more about Deborah Friedman, MD, MPH, FAAN and her work here:
Key Questions
- What are the features or symptoms of cluster headache?
- How can we tell the difference between cluster headache and migraine?
- Why is it called “cluster” headache?
- What is chronic cluster headache?
- What are common triggers of cluster headache?
- What are the best ways to treat cluster headache?
- What are some alternative and less well known potential treatments for cluster headache?
- What are “shadows” in cluster headache?
- What commonly prescribed medications often do not work well for cluster headache?
- Are there any devices that might be helpful for the treatment of cluster headache?
- What kinds of cutting-edge research can we participate in, and how can we register for clinical trials?
- What are TACs?
Interview Notes
Find more about Brian McGeeney, MD and his work here:
Key Questions
- How common are mistakes in medicine?
- Why do errors occur?
- How can patients and doctors avoid the problems inherent in overly industrialized medicine?
- Where are treatment rates for people with migraine low?
- What can we do to raise treatment rates?
- How can patients receive the best possible care from their doctors?
- What are the direct, indirect, and societal costs of migraine?
- How much can we improve productivity just by helping people with migraine who come to work during an attack?
- What is the most important thing for patients to give their doctors?
- How does a patient know if they should find a new doctor?
Interview Notes
Find more about Zaza Katsarava, MD, PhD and his work here:
Key Questions
- How do the diagnostic criteria for migraine differ from those of tension-type headache?
- How are chronic migraine and chronic tension-type headache alike?
- Can a headache start out as a tension-type headache and then transform into a migraine attack?
- What triggers a tension-type headache?
- Does stress play a role in a tension-type headache?
- If you have both migraine and tension-type headaches, should you be treated with preventives for both?
- What are the S.E.E.D.S. of success in headache management?
- Do triptans work for tension-type headache?
- What are some alternative therapies for tension-type headaches?
- Are there natural supplements that can help with tension-type headaches?
Interview Notes
Find more about Larry Newman, MD and his work here:
S.E.E.D.S. acronym discussed in:
Key Questions
- What kinds of tests are important for people with migraine to have?
- Is there any danger in having repeated brain scans?
- How important are patient history and physical examination in diagnosing migraine?
- When would a person with migraine need a brain scan?
- Do people with migraine need to worry about white-matter lesions?
- If a person with migraine has aura symptoms, does that change the need for testing?
- What types of tests should be administered for rare subtypes of migraine, like hemiplegic migraine or migraine with prolonged aura?
- What does CFS (cerebral spinal fluid) pressure have to do with migraine?
- How does an open PFO (patent foramen ovale) valve influence migraine?
- Why would a person with migraine need an EEG?
- What are persistent aura symptoms, and are there any tests needed when it is present?
Interview Notes
Find more about Dimos-Dimitrios Mitsikostas, MD, PhD and his work here:
Tests mentioned in the interview:
Key Questions
- What is a migraine attack?
- What is cortical spreading depression, or CSD?
- What are the known mechanisms behind a migraine attack?
- Is migraine purely genetic?
- What is epigenetics?
- What can you expect from a treatment plan for migraine?
- What are triptans used for? How many kinds and formats are there?
- How do migraine patients respond to different triptans?
- At what point should a migraine patient consider non-triptan forms of abortive medication or preventative drug treatments?
- What new treatments for migraine are coming out soon?
Interview Notes
Find more about Antoinette Maassen van den Brink, PhD and her work here:
Key Questions
- How should patients prepare for their doctors’ appointments?
- What kind of information should patients provide their doctors?
- What should a patient expect from their doctor?
- What do doctors expect from their patients?
- What important differences exist between the initial appointment and follow-ups?
- How can patients take control of their own health in between appointments?
- Is a headache diary important?
- What’s the difference between a good doctor-patient relationship and a bad one? What are some signs of each?
- How can we foster a good relationship with our health care professional to get the best results?
Interview Notes
Find more about Patricia Pozo Rosich, MD, PhD and her work here:
Key Questions
- What does history teach us about the pursuit of migraine cures?
- Why is it easy to fall victim to quackery and unscientific “cures”?
- What is pseudoscience?
- Why is it sometimes difficult to use the scientific method to study the efficacy of a treatment?
- What is the placebo response and how significant is it?
- How much trust should we place in social media treatment claims?
- Is cannabis a proven effective treatment for migraine?
- Is the ketogenic diet safe?
- What is the best way to evaluate a new treatment?
- How might the use of alternative treatments lead to the neglect of scientifically proven treatments?
- What are some evidence-based alternative treatments?
- Why are nerve blocks used in North America if there is limited evidence?
- Why are some treatments listed in guidelines while others are not?
- What are the problems with migraine surgeries?
Interview Notes
Find more about Elizabeth Leroux, MD, FRCPC and her work here:
