Researchers identify new drug that can stop migraine before it starts
The drug comes as a big
relief to more than 127 million people suffering from chronic migraine
LATEST
NEWS : In a good news for people
who suffer from chronic migraines,
researchers have identified a medication that can prevent the severe headaches
before they start.
An antibody therapy against a key inflammatory molecule
involved in migraines reduces the number of headaches that chronic migraine
patients experience per month in a phase III trial.
"This therapeutic approach offers new hope for people
whose migraines cannot be treated with existing medicine," said Stephen D
Silberstein, from the Thomas Jefferson University in the US.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between
127 and 300 million people around the world experience chronic migraine,
defined as 15 or more headaches per month for at least three months.
The disease can be debilitating and although a number of
interventions exist, many only work for a certain time before they fail to
prevent or relieve pain.
The drug called Fremanezumab is a biological agent that
binds to and blocks the action of a migraine-associated protein called
calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).
Mounting evidence of its importance in migraines has made
CGRP a focal point of research and drug development.
The peptide is released at high levels during migraine in
response to inflammation, and triggers a cascade effect that stimulates more
CGRP release. This results in increasing sensitivity of the brain to pain.
By blocking this peptide, doctors hope to break the cycle of
increasing inflammation and increased pain sensitivity that contributes to
migraine headaches.
For the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine,
researchers enrolled 1,130 patients and divided them in three groups.
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