New method for curing migraine discovered

After 10 sessions of treatment, patients with chronic migraine pain decreased by 37 percent. The method to cure migraine is known as deep brain stimulation and scientists say a weak electrical current of two milliamperes is sufficient to relieve the headache.

Scientists discovered that electroshock therapy reduces the headache by 37 percent in those who are expected to suffer from chronic migraine, making  patients less dependent on medicines and reducing the side effects as well.

The experts explained that the technique, known as deep brain stimulation, changes the speed with which neurons receive stimuli and conduct nerve impulses.

According to the new study by the University of Michigan (north), a weak electrical current of two milliamperes is sufficient to relieve the pain.

In reaching this conclusion, the scientists placed on thirteen patients with chronic migraine, which involves at least 15 attacks monthly, electrodes in the motor cortex that is responsible for voluntary motor functions that send electrical impulses.

After ten sessions of treatment, which lasted four weeks, the mean pain threshold decreased by 37 percent, said Alexandra DaSilva, professor at the School of Dentistry at the University of Michigan, author of the study.

Other studies show that stimulation of this part of the brain can have therapeutic benefits for some treatment-resistant disorders such as chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, essential tremors of dystonia.

A migraine is, in some ways, like a seizure - it is a neurological event involving abnormal activity in certain brain circuits (the trigeminovascular reflex, for example) and also involving hyperexcitability (leading to central sensitization) of certain populations of neurons. This leads clinically to hypersensitivity to sound, light, smell, and touch - which can both trigger and exacerbate a migraine.

Despite the encouraging results, it is premature to discuss the clinical application of this method, highlights DaSilva, indicating the need to consider the risks that may arise.

Translated from the Spanish version by:

Lisa Karpova

Pravda.Ru