New Medications for Migraines

Ivanhoe Newswire

By Rebekah Addy, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Light and sound can be energy-boosting tools for many, but when a migraine strikes, those tools can be anything but helpful. A new study shows combining popular medications may help migraine symptoms.

Researchers from the Nashville Neuroscience Group in Nashville, Tenn., studied a combined 2,956 migraine patients in two randomized and identical studies. They found combining the migraine medication sumatriptan, also known as Imitrix, and naproxen sodium, an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication often marketed as Aleve, was more effective than taking either one individually. After two hours of taking the combined medication, the majority of participants experienced less sensitivity to light and sound.

In one of the studies, researchers also found the absence of nausea was reduced two hours after taking the drug combination, where in the other study nausea did not differ from those given the placebo. After 24 hours, most patients were still pain-free.

Researcher Jan Lewis Brandes, M.D., told Ivanhoe the cobo can be a great alternative and first choice for patients who have longer-duration migraine attacks and dont easily live pain free with the treatments they are using now. She explains: "It can mean that they will get pain free faster, stay pain free, and if they happen to be in the group of individuals who happens to wait to treat or who has a very rapidly accelerating attack of migraine, they may be able to get pain free -- espite the advancement of their attack or the fact they have waited to treat."

Researchers found benefit in having the medications combined in one pill. "When you put them together in a single tablet, they behave differently in blood and brain than if you took the two tablets separately," Dr. Brandes explained. "So there appears to be a synergist component. There is something that is unique about the fixed-combination tablet that appears to give it benefit over taking the individual tablets alone."

Currently, the combination drug is before the FDA and is awaiting approval. Dr. Brandes says in the meantime, the best thing migraine patients can do is be aware and take medication when mild pain occurs. "If we can save people from pain disability, from missed activity, from missed work, from the potential for progression into migraine, it is always a joyful scientific event in my mind."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Jan Lewis Brandes, M.D.; The Journal of American Medical Association; 279, 1443-1454

Last updated 4/4/2007.

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