DEFEATING MIGRAINE HEADACHES WITH AN ANTI-CLOT DRUG

By Helen Borel, R.N.,Ph.D.

  The tendency to be a migraineur is inherited. And 

a migraineur’s blood is known to be more coagulable than 

other people’s blood. The latter fact becomes especially 

significant in light of a new report from the UK on anti-clot 

treatment being successful for migraine headaches 

...which I'll tell you about a little further on

    Heretofore, migraine headaches have been believed caused

by periodic cerebrovascular (brain blood-vessel) abnormalities
– usually beginning with vessel constriction and proceeding to vessel
dilatation – triggered by a vast variety of endogenous (internal) and
exogenous (external) triggering agents.**  This vascular brain 
syndrome (group of symptoms), not your ordinary headache, is 
heralded in a certain percentage of sufferers by scotomata 
(visualization of flashing lights in a jagged pattern, like a 
lightning strike), right or left hemianopsia (partial vision loss in 
one eye, usually first noticed upon the disappearance of some text 
while reading), mild nausea, and a light-headed feeling. 

    That "early warning system" is called an Aura.

    When the migraine syndrome progresses to the headache

stage, there is photophobia – eye pain from light in a lighted 
room, so the patient must rest with shaded windows in a room with
all lights turned off. Some migraineurs even wear sunglasses to 
screen out as much light during these episodes as possible.

    Migraineurs, lucky enough to have an Aura have about 20
to 30 minutes before a headache’s onset, enough time to take a
medication that aborts the migraine process and prevents the
headache altogether.

    Unfortunately, a large percentage of migraineurs do not have the

good fortune to experience the early warning of an Aura. So they will
progress to the headache
stage.

    Many drugs, some of which have therapeutically influenced

the "clotting cascade" – a complicated series of biological steps
that thicken the blood and promote coagulation – have been used to
treat migraine headaches.  (Note too: Chemical components of the
clotting cascade also play a role in pain levels and pain perception
throughout the body.)

    Of course, the most famous drug used is 
Aspirin (ASA, aka acetyl-salicylic acid) – the classic analgesic 
(pain reliever) and a known anticoagulant (blood thinner).
Other, more expensive but similar-effect pain relievers have been
used, including naproxen, Advil and similar agents.

Even Inderal ® (propranolol), a Beta-blocker usually prescribed for
cardiac patients – and sometimes for stage fright – has been used
to treat migraine pain.

    And recently, a class of agents known as triptans – technically
referred to as "serotonin receptor antagonists," serotonin
being known to play a role in nociception (pain perception) – of
which Imitrex ® (sumatriptan succinate) is a member, has been
used against migraine pain. Other drugs in this triptan class
include Zomig ® (zolmitriptan), Frova ® (frovatriptan) succinate,
Amerge ® (naratriptan Hcl), Axert ® (almotriptan maleate), and
Relpax ® (eletriptan Hbr).

    The triptans are believed to reverse the process of brain 
blood vessel dilatation responsible for the migraine syndrome’s 
headache stage and its accompanying severe symptoms.
Imitrex® has even been promoted in DTC (direct-to-consumer) ads
on television telling migraineurs it will relieve the disrupting effects
that the painful, nauseating, photophobic, and sound-sensitivity
symptoms have on their lives.

    Given this historical background on the migraine syndrome
...plus the fact that scientists still can’t account fully for the 
migraine process, nor can they pinpoint the best way to treat it...

    Enter the London-based cardiologist John Chambers who
believes treating migraine sufferers with the anticoagulant 
(anti-clot) drug Plavix ®  (clopidogrel bisulfate) is justified.
This because, he hypothesizes, cerebral migraine syndrome is
due to minuscule cardiac clots pumped out from the heart to the
brain.  Clopidogrel goes after the clotting propensity of the blood
cells known as platelets. So breaking up or causing dissolution of
these clot-inducing elements, he expects, will intervene positively to
bring relief to migraineurs.

    And because Dr. Chambers has experienced some success 
against migraine headaches using Plavix ® (clopidogrel 
bisulfate), almost 300 migraineurs are now being studied for this drug’s 
anti-migraine efficacy. What is sought are results, from this extended
number of experimental subjects, in order to provide a possible new
future treatment option and a new avenue of research for the long battle
against this protean condition of human suffering.

**Migraine Triggers: These include various allergens, paint fumes,
cigar odors, weather changes, monthly female hormonal changes, some
foods, stressors, coffee, alcohol, and unknown others.

© Copyright 2008, 2015  Dr.Helen Borel.  All rights reserved.

Permission is granted to quote small segments of this article 
with attribution as follows:  “According to Dr. Helen Borel at 
medical-healthalerts.blogspot.com” 

For additional permissions and purchases, contact Dr.Borel at: 
medical-healthalerts@earthlink.net 
and type into the Subject line: PLAVIX FOR MIGRAINE

FOR RAPID INTERVENTION IN MIGRAINE AND STROKE

By Helen Borel, R.N.,Ph.D.

TO TIMELY COMBAT THE MISERY OF MIGRAINE
AND THE DANGERS OF STROKE...

MDs and RNs MUST BE INTIMATELY 
KNOWLEDGEABLE about NORMAL BRAIN 
VASCULAR (BLOOD VESSEL) FUNCTION
It wouldn’t hurt, however, for everyone to know some of the
facts in this overview to familiarize all with the urgency of
emergency care for stroke victims...and the urgency for specific
medication to reverse the temporary brain abnormality in
migraine sufferers.

THE TWO TYPES OF STROKES 
AND THEIR TREATMENTS
Strokes (CVAs, cerebrovascular accidents) are generally
divided into two pathologic groups: those due to bleeding
from a vessel into the brain, and those that cut off a sort of pie
section of the brain from oxygen and other nutrients because of
a clot that lodges in vital spaces in a brain blood vessel. There
are neurosurgical procedures for both of these CVA
pathologies. One attacks the clot itself, if a medication won't
dissolve it; the other utilizes certain instruments that clip 
off an offending bleeder in the brain, saving the patient's
life as well as his/her motor and speech functions.

Prior to considering brain surgery for stroke patients at risk of
another CVA due to a blood clot, there is a clot-dissolving 
medication that can be administered in the ER (Emergency
Room) by ER physicians. But this is a serious medical step 
requiring close monitoring of the patient's condition to
prevent the clot-dissolver from itself causing a brain hemorrhage
and yet another stroke to further incapacitate the patient. If the
clot dissolver doesn't work, brain surgery may have to be
performed to extract the clot.  Once removed, this type of
stroke patient has a better chance of recovery.

A cerebral hemorrhage, however, may prove more difficult
to treat because the hemorrhage, fast flowing, and fast accumu-
lating in the brain is spreading its damage by impinging on vital
cerebral centers. When the neurosurgeon approaches this kind
of lesion, he has his work cut out for him.

ATTENTION TO MIGRAINEURS’ 
(sufferers of migraines) NEEDS  When it comes to
migraineurs, even though migraine syndrome patients are
never candidates for brain surgery for their painful head
symptoms, a thorough knowledge of neurovascular anatomy
(structure) and physiology (function) - the affected organs
and their functions that comprise brain blood vessel circulaton
- is essential to correctly diagnose and treat these usually very
incapacitated head pain patients.

NORMAL BRAIN BLOOD VESSEL FUNCTION
The common carotid arteries, situated within the lateral
aspects (the sides) of the neck are the key circulatory
conduits that conduct oxygenated (filled with oxygen) blood
to the brain. Remember, the brain cannot function for more
than some minutes when it is starved for oxygen. So that any
condition that impedes or blocks blood flow to the brain will
severely compromise its oxygen supply and, therefore, its
function. Prolonged, such interruption in brain oxygen will
cause death or a tragic vegetative state.

THE COMMON CAROTID ARTERIES -
there’s one on each side of your neck...
you can even feel it pulsating  
The common carotid artery is a large blood vessel located
in the neck; in fact there are two of them, one on either side
called the Left Common Carotid Artery and the Right 
Common Carotid Artery. Not only do these vital vessels
play a vital role in stroke causes and treatments, they also
play a pivotal role in the migraine process.

[To learn more about the migraine process itself, and its
treatments, I’ll be posting an article about it soon. Which
will be titled: "Migraine: A Headache to Doctors 
as well as Patients"]

Here's a little experience 
with your own common carotid arteries: Lightly press your
middle fingers on the middle of either the right or left side of
your neck, more toward the front of you. You will feel your
artery's healthy pulsations as it pumps oxygenated blood
(oxygen-rich blood) via both carotids up to both sides of
your brain. This normal flow, however, is compromised
in CVAs and in the migraine process.

THE INTERNAL SKULL CAPS 
THAT PROTECT THE BRAIN -THE MENINGES
The meninges are the three layers of tissue protecting the brain.
Your meninges, these vital tissues that line your inner skull and
help to cushion the soft tissue of your cerebrum (brain), are
divided into three layers. These are called the dura mater,
the arachnoid mater, and the pia mater.

The dura mater is attached internally to the cavernous skull. The
arachnoid mater, so named because of its spidery features, and
richly vascularized (rich with blood vessels) lies between the pia
and the dura. And the pia mater lies over the brain itself as an
adherent layer of protection for our delicate, fleshy human
computer. In life, these meninges are not far apart, but in very
close relation to each other.

Additionally, you must be aware that the scalp - the strong skin
which tightly covers your outer skull, also receives a rich 
supply of oxygenated blood from higher branches of 
both common carotid arteries. Moreover, the two main
common carotid arterial branches situated on each side of
your head not only supply oxygen-rich blood to your scalp
but to your meninges as well. The common carotid branches 
are called the external carotid and the internal carotid.
The external carotid arterial branch is the vessel that 
supplies oxygenated blood to the meninges.

The second common carotid, called the internal carotid 
arterial branch, flows into other cerebral arteries to supply
blood and oxygen to the brain itself.

NORMAL BRAIN BLOOD VESSEL FUNCTION
Arteries, which normally supply oxygenated blood, as well as
veins which remove waste from body circulation, are capable of 
dilating and constricting due to their elastic layers
between their inner and outer linings. (Most body organs have
three layers to handle various essential organ functions.) Blood
vessel elasticity is more pronounced in one’s arteries. Any
Dorland's Medical Dictionary will illustrate the comparative
differences between a dilated blood vessel and a constricted one.

Dilation and constriction of arteries and veins enable them
to control the flow of blood and, when necessary, they may
constrict to control bleeding. The latter is the physiologic effect of
a bodily substance that comes into play at sites of hemorrhage to
inhibit dangerous outflow.

IMPAIRED BLOOD FLOW 
PRECIPITATES STROKE OR MIGRAINE...
CVA DUE TO PLAQUE,
MIGRAINE TO ABNORMAL ARTERIAL DILATATION
Obviously, a dilated artery will carry more blood more rapidly to
the tissue or organ it supplies. Equally as obvious, a constricted
artery will carry less blood, and more slowly, to the part it usually
supplies with nutrients and oxygen.

Additional small anatomic vessels 
complete the blood vessel picture. These are your arterioles.
These tiny branches of arteries are arterial endpoints that are the
minute, close-contact vascular deliverers of oxygen and nourish-
ment directly to all body tissues and organs. Remember your 
arterioles. Nothing vital can get through to them when the larger
major blood vessels to the body and brain are blocked by athero-
sclerosis.  As is the case in blockade of the coronary artery
(the arterial "crown" surrounding and embedded in the
myocardium, the heart muscle layer), as in carotid artery
narrowing, as when a clot produces a CVA, or as in a suddenly
triggered cerebrovascular dilatation (excessive expansion of
brain arteries) known to cause the torture of migraineurs.

This “lesson” in the anatomy and physiology of brain vasculature
and that of other blood vessels should deepen the reader’s
knowledge of the risks of heart attack and stroke from various
causes of damaged vessels...and of the role blood vessel
dilatation plays in triggering and extending migraine attacks.
(Many things may “trigger” a migraine attack: allergies, weather,
a food ingested such as onion, stress, alcohol, strong coffee,
strong sunlight....and unknowns.)

There are many preventive measures
to avoid heart attacks and stroke. Among these are attention
to best nutrition, appropriate exercise, control of diabetes
mellitus and other metabolic conditions (such as thyroid disease),
and appropriate medical interventions for any other conditions
such as inherited tendencies toward negative contributory
factors. Genetic predisposition to obesity, for example.

As for Migraine Attacks, 
there are a number of ways to handle these.  The headache
of migraine is terrible. It’s not your ordinary headache from
tension or hunger or tired eyes.  For those migraineurs who can’t
avoid migraine headaches, they are bedridden, suffer severe
nausea, dizziness and blinding photophobia (inability to tolerate
light).Thus, they are trapped for hours, sometimes days in a dark,
dark room all shaded...unable to eat without vomitting, unable to
really rest; trapped with black blinders to cover their eyes
because few medicines can help them...at least this used
to be the case.

Some Migraineurs Experience AURAS 
(warning sensations, often visual) and 
SCOTOMATA (optical events like wavy lightning flashes)
Luckily, a certain percentage of migraineurs experience what’s
known as an “aura” in enough time, approximately a half hour,
before the actual headache would have begun.  Hard to describe,
unless you’ve experienced it, the aura comprises a visual 
distortion with narrowing, blanking out of the text when reading,
blurring of the text, visual “lightnings” like shimmering, flashing lights,
a mild nausea, and lightheadedness. These “early warning signals”
allow the aura-experiencing group of migraineurs to immediately
take their medication (which they should always carry with them)
which wards off the headache entirely,  leaving the migraineur a bit
lightheaded but not in pain, not suffering the full-blown
migraine attack.

These lucky migraineurs have, for decades enjoyed the use of
Cafergot ® (ergotomine with caffeine) a pill which, taken as soon
as the “aura” begins prevents the headache and prevents the full-
blown effects of the dilated brain and also of the possibly dilated
other body blood vessels. This Rx drug, manufactured by Sandoz
Pharmaceuticals, reversed the blood vessel dilatation, thereby
preventing the onset of the headache unavoidable to
the non-aura migraineurs.

Unfortunately, Sandoz has stopped manufacturing this
inexpensive migraine headache preventive medication.  Probably
because Cafergot ® could no longer be profitable in the current
Rx market...due to the advent of a more expensive class of
migraine drugs,  “serotonin receptor agonists”
(the neurochemical serotonin plays a role here).  These are
known as the triptans, “triptan” being the last part of the chemical
name of all the new brands of so-called migraine drugs.  But,
remember, these don’t help the class of migraineurs whose auras
have been their mainstay, alerting them to take their Cafergot ®,
preventing their headaches from ever starting in the first place.

Sadly, this new-era of more expensive migraine drugs
does not have that capacity.  And so the “aura” group of
migraineurs now have a real headache to deal with: How to
find a way to abort their migraine processes in the absence of
the key Rx medication that Sandoz no longer manufacturers.

(c) Copyright 1984 and 2015 Dr. Helen Borel. All rights reserved.

For permissions and rights, email me:  medical-healthalerts@earthlink.net

For Interactive, Interventional, Creative PsychoTherapy -
by this author of Journey Into Self: Holistic Interactive 
Integrative Psychoanalysis - that gets your life, your career,
and your love relationship away from suffering and on to
fulfillment, contact me at emotional_health@earthlink.net

...and You can call me Dr. Helen

CHOCOLATE, NATURE'S PANACEA

by Helen Borel, R.N.,Ph.D.

Chocolate: Panacea for Happiness and Health

Dark Chocolate, replete with bioflavonoids, contributes to 
improved cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) health, 
according to Dr. Mary Engler of the University of California 
at San Francisco, School of Nursing.

Her salubrious conclusion refers to the results of a study¹ 
she and her co-investigators conducted on some lucky 
volunteers who got to eat chocolate during the full time 
period of their experiment.

Two groups of chocolate lovers were instructed to 
eat one bar of dark chocolate (amounting to 1.6 oz.) 
q.d. (daily) for 14 days. One group was given dark 
chocolate bars - usually highest in cocoa content, 
compared with milk chocolate for example - that 
contained its natural high level of flavonoids,
the targeted active ingredient known as 
epicatechin.

The second group was fed what appeared to be
the same dark chocolate of the same weight and at 
the same daily dosage for two weeks as well. Except 
that, unbeknownst to the subjects in either group, the 
flavonoids from the dark chocolate bars eaten by the 
group 2 subjects were removed.

The object of the study by Dr. Engler and her
colleagues was to compare, by various 
cardiovascular tests, how the flavonoid and 
nonflavonoid chocolate-eating subjects fared.

Blood Vessel Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Bioflavonoids are known to forestall 
inflammation within blood vessel walls triggered 
by immune system reactions.  Concomitantly,  
they also prevent atherosclerotic (fatty, 
hardening) conditions from forming by 
controlling the deposition of cholesterol 
intravascularly as well.

Thus flavonoids, and therefore dark chocolate, 
decrease coagulatory (clotting) responses 
thereby minimizing thrombus (clot) formation. 
In other words, somewhat like aspirin, dark 
chocolate thins the blood, preventing the 
thickening that produces thrombi.

Dangers of Atherosclerotic Deposits

This positive flavonoid action is crucial because
thrombi can loosen and travel via the circulatory 
system to the heart, causing a heart attack; to 
the brain, causing a stroke; and to the peripheral 
vessels in the legs causing a venous (of the veins)
thrombus which can loosen and travel to the lungs. 
All three of these potential conditions can be fatal.

Bearing in mind that vessels at risk of 
atherosclerosis tend toward more rigidity, with greater 
constriction of the lumen (the hollow path within 
a blood vessel), this will lead to restricted blood flow 
and deprivation to vital bodily organs of needed 
nutrients and oxygen.  And such vascular pathology 
will promote hypertension (high blood pressure) - 
a silent inducer of CVAs (cerebrovascular 
accidents = strokes), MIs (myocardial infarctions 
= heart attacks), and kidney disease.

Subjects Eating Flavonoid-Rich Dark Chocolate 
had Healthier Blood Vessels...

Thus, normally dilating arteries permit increased
blood flow and reduced probability of the dire conditions 
just mentioned. And this study demonstrated a healthier 
vascular dilatation-constriction process in the flavonoid 
subject group.

...and Other Studies Report Antihypertensive 
and Anticancer Effects of Dark Chocolate

Dark Chocolate has also been shown, in other studies,
to lower blood pressure and to have some anticancer 
protective properties.

So, dosing yourself with some squares of dark
chocolate a day may be one of the most enjoyable 
medical regimens people can follow as prophylaxis 
against two of the most widespread life-threatening
conditions in the world - heart disease and cancer.

1. Engler, RN,PhD, Mary B.: J. Amer. Coll. Nutrition,
Vol. 23, (June) 2004, pp. 197-204.

© copyright 2008 to 2015 by Dr. Helen Borel. 
All rights reserved.

For permissions or rights, email me here: 
medical-healthalerts@earthlink.net  and type
into the Subject line "BOREL MEDICAL SYNDICATE"

*For FREELANCE WRITING on MEDICAL, 
PSYCHIATRIC, Rx PHARMACEUTICAL and 
PSYCHOTHERAPY subjects, contact me at:

medical-healthalerts@earthlink.net

*For TOP QUALITY PSYCHOTHERAPY 
at LOW, GRANT-SUBSIDIZED FEES contact me at:

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COMING SOON: A NEW ERA of MEDICAL WRITINGS

by Helen Borel, R.N.,Ph.D.

I've been away far too long...exploring ways to magnetize avid readers of all things medical-, psychiatric-, psychotherapeutic-, and pharmaceutical-related. That is, in order to help you enjoy reading well-written, depth-explored material to keep on top of the burgeoning scientfic and patient-care information that's daily inundating the world.

Also, I've no intention of excluding humor.  This is the stuff that saves us all in times of stress, tragedy, grief, illness, change of any kind.  I've many original belly-laugh items to share. Coming SOON (see below for a preview).

Therefore, keep your sights on this site.  I'm going to gift you with exciting health-related information in
easy-to-read (but not infantile) language that's facile yet smart.

Here are two originals of mine, to start the laughter:
Q: What's your diagnosis of a cobra which no longer has any venom?

A:  A REPTILE DYSFUNCTION.
..............................................................................................
Q: How do you revive a dead magician on the autopsy table?

A: You say, "ABRA CADAVER!"

Goodnight and I shall return!

Words to magnetize visitor-readers: Expert Medical Writing, Expert Psychiatric and Psychotherapy
Writing, Expert Rx Pharmaceutical and OTC Writing, Humor, Satire, Dr. Borel, Helen Borel,
Registered Nurse, Masters in Creative Writing, Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Studies, Widely
Published, Creative and Advertising/Marketing Pro.

(c) Copyright 2009-2015 Helen Borel.  All rights reserved.