1. The types of specialists that can help with a migraine diagnosis are doctors who focus on treating people with migraines. These doctors can be internal medicine doctors, family practice doctors, neurologists, or other specialists who see many patients with headache disorders. Most migraine & headache specialists have completed additional training and have additional certification in treating headaches. They may also work in a clinic dedicated to treating headaches. In addition, a neurologist is a doctor trained in diagnosing and treating disorders and diseases of the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. Neurologists examine and treat the nerves in the head and neck as well as diagnose problems with memory, balance, speech, thinking and …show more content…
Edwin Amos. He is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the Santa Monica, California area, including St. John's Health Center and UCLA Medical Center. He received his medical degree from University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He is one of 15 doctors at St. John's Health Center and one of 182 at UCLA Medical Center who specialize in Neurology. His subspecialties are in headache medicine, sports neurology, traumatic brain injury, and general neurology. He joined the American Academy of neurology in 1986. He also testifies in legal cases involving brain trauma in sports and how migraines can impair a person’s daily life.
The second neurologist that I found online was Dr. Wayne Anderson. He practices in San Francisco, California. His biggest subspecialty is headache and migraine medicine. Dr. Anderson is a Fellow (FAAN) of the American Academy of Neurology. Becoming a Fellow of the AAN acknowledges exemplary work in the neurosciences, in the AAN and in your community. As a result, he’s done a lot of work and research regarding neurological diseases and he spends a lot of his time testifying about how migraines impact a person’s everyday life and how they can easily take someone’s quality of life
The borders between the different forms are very fluid and the specific conditions are often misdiagnosed as a strong migraine, causing the patients to suffer significant pain before treatment is started. Which directly links to another problem: The treatment. Oxygen treatment seems promising, yet it is not readily available to the patients. Orally administered triptans are usually too weak and nasally administered triptans (e.g. ZOMIG) cannot be used in a sufficient frequency to relieve the pain during the whole day, especially in the case of Paroxysmal Hemicrania where attacks are generally of shorter duration yet of higher intensity. Therefore, patients still need to resort to taking a significant amount of painkillers which is medically problematic since an attack period can last up to several months or even years in the case of chronic conditions which 10-15% of cluster headache patients suffer from.
Migraine headaches affect an estimated 36 million Americans, or about 12% of the population, surpassing asthma at 8.3% (25 million) and diabetes at 7.8% (23.6 million). Migraines are much more common in women than in men--about 3 times more common. Nearly 30% of women will experience at least one episode of migraine headaches in their lifetime, most commonly in the third and sixth decades of life. However, migraines can affect anyone at any age and from any ethnic group. In addition to indirect expenses like missed work/school and lost productivity, the American Migraine Foundation estimates that migraines cost Americans more than $20 billion annually. Migraine sufferers are also more likely to experience anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, and other pain conditions, and those who experience visual disturbances called “auras” associated with migraines are at an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Unfortunately, there is no cure for migraines. The best treatment options available only to seek to reduce frequency of attacks or treat an attack once one has begun, and medication use is often limited by side effects and difficulty of administration. The American Migraine Foundation itself labels current treatment options “far from perfect” and concludes, “Undoubtedly, better treatments are needed.” Filling this therapeutic void is the primary objective of NuPathe Inc. (very recently acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.) with Zecuity®, a sumatriptan iontophoretic transdermal system.
After many years of battling migraine headaches, she had decided to try something new. The doctors tell her everything is okay with her. MRI shows no abnormality but the
Patient is a 19-year-old right-handed white male who presents with his mother for evaluation of frequent headaches. He did not have headaches prior to two grade 1 concussions while playing football in 2012. At that time, he had a normal MRI. He has been having headaches since. He did see Kent Logan, MD in 2012, at which point he was describing weekly headaches with photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea. At that time, according to Dr. Logan's notes, there was no aura with his headaches. He noted that trying one of his mother's Imitrex helped with the headache, so he was given a prescription for 50 mg. He was also diagnosed as having a whiplash injury, at that time. He did undergo physical therapy for his neck. He also was complaining of some short-term memory problems at that time, but neuropsychology testing was negative. He has not followed up with Dr. Logan since then. More recently, his headaches have been increasing in frequency. They are located in the left retrobulbar and super orbital area, but then will spread throughout the left side of the head and then bilaterally. The pain is steady when it is milder, but throbbing when it is worse, and it is worsened with exertion. There is photophobia, phonophobia, osmophobia, nausea. They can last one to two hours. Most often, he does have
Our patient Ms. Blum is a 28-year-old white female who presents with symptoms of a migraine, such as waking up by a severe headache that she states is often made worse when she turns on the light. In addition, Ms. Blum presents with several factors that can trigger her migraines including her lack of sleep, her stressful life as concluded by her statement that this has been a difficult period in her life and her approaching deadline to turn in her dissertation, her weekend alcohol consumption, her menstrual cycle since she notices that a couple of days before her period starts she experiences these headaches, also she states that food doesn’t seem to appeal to her and it takes her effort to eat a meal, and her diagnosis of major depressive disorder.
They are the definition of a migraine, probable causes of a migraine, and several treatment options for a
If the patient’s primary physician believes seeing a neurologist is needed the the physician can refer the patient to a neurologist.
This case was interesting and was chosen for this SOAP note and discussion. Several things were captured in this learning opportunity. First of all, the assessment piece needed to include all of the potential differentials. I discovered myself relying on patterned learning to recall what areas should this focused exam include. Headaches are broad symptoms that can potentially result from many system alterations and can be related to many differentials. Initially, I considered migraine/tension headache history, acute illness (infection/sinusitis), acute injury (trauma or brain bleed), cerebral abnormality (aneurysm/stroke), and secondary causes related to uncontrolled HTN. I then began to narrow the differentials the most likely diagnosis such as tension-type headache based on the details obtained from the history/physical. Next, I began to consider treatment for tension-type headaches. The area of learning in the case was related to the additional treatment with Lyrica for the headaches. I considered the typical interventions such as rest, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, stress reduction, diet, and trigger recognition. I considered the influence of co-morbid condition management, such as HTN, DM, and obesity. I had not considered that the HA potentially be related to her fibromyalgia (FM). According
Among the numerous components in the human body, the brain ranks superior due to its vital role in maintaining a suitable environment for life to continue. Injuries and conditions that affect this system have the ability to cause severe and life-threatening damage, which is why doctors that specialize in this field of medicine are so indispensable to healthcare institutions. According to healthline.com, a neurologist is a physician who has undergone additional training to diagnose and treat disorders of the nervous system. The nervous system includes the brain and the nerves that send signals to allow the body to function properly. However, many neurologists specialize in more specific conditions such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. They can also treat injuries such as concussions or strokes. Additionally, a neurologist can work as a reference for other physicians by advising them about the effects of certain medical conditions like AIDS or substances such as drugs and alcohol on the nervous system. (Hoyle)
Headaches are a neurologic disorder that causes pain to any region of the head, scalp, face and neck area. Determination of the type of headache primary or secondary is necessary for proper treatment. A complete history to include age needs to be obtained to include family history, furthermore information on frequency, location, duration, time of day, precipitating factors, related factors, and types of medications used, a must be took in account to identify the specific headache.
Patients who endured moderate to severe migraines were interviewed a physician and had to complete a migraine diary for one month and a migraine headache information form. Patients who met the criteria were then offered to participate in the study followed by completing several questionnaires. Before undergoing the surgery, the patients were then injected botulinum toxin type A in the area where they felt the most pain from their migraine. Depending on where the patients
Researchers monitored patients in both inpatient and outpatient surgeries, and looked at how many had stokes then how many were readmitted to a hospital over 30 days. Within the 30 day period, results showed patients with migraines were more likely to have a stoke compared to patients without migraines. The patients who did have migraines with aura were at higher risk to those with regular migraines. The readmission rates was 1.3
Migraines are one of the most common, episodic disorders, in which the patient experiences a severe headache that may also accompany with nausea, and/or light and sound sensitivity. Migraine pain can be mild to severe in intensity and can last four to seventy hours (Buttaro, Trybulski, Bailey, and, Sandberg-Cook, 2013). It usually has a preliminary period in which patients can experience tiredness, decreased concentration, irritability, and noticeable yawning. Warning signs like these may occur several hours or even days before the full onset of the migraine episode (Sprenger and Goadsby, 2009). Patients can experience a migraine with or without aura. The aura is described as a visual disturbance where a patient sees shimmering bright light,
I have suffered from migraines since I was four.Just a little child at the time who couldn’t understand or express the screaming going on in my head. Pounding, pulsing, pressure as if something was trying to claw its way out. Lights dancing before my eyes and nasua rolling in my stomach. Today I have those words but even though I can express them few people understand.
Neurologists generally have an in depth understanding of anatomy and physiology, as well as all the body systems. This is because diseases effecting the body could impair brain function. Some disorders that a person may seek a referral to a neurolgist include: stroke, brain tumours, Multiple Sclerosis, headache, infection of the brain or spinal cord such as Meningitis, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, epilepsy and speech