Migraine is a neurological disease. A migraine is a very painful type of headache. In some cases, these painful headaches are preceded or accompanied by a sensory warning sign (aura), such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in your arm or leg. More than 29.5 million Americans suffer from migraine, with women being affected three times more often than men. In childhood, however, migraines are more common in boys than in girls. More than 80% of patients who develop migraines will have a first attack by age 30. Migraines continue through the patient's 30s and 40s. Less than half of all migraine sufferers. Migraine is often misdiagnosed as sinus headache or tension-type headache.

Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels), while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). Migraine is three times more common in women than in men.

Migraine Headaches Symptoms

Millions of people find themselves regularly suffering from migraine headaches symptoms. Most regular sufferers can identify a migraine quickly after the onset of symptoms, which last anywhere from several hours to several days. Treatment For migraine headaches should be attempted as soon as symptoms appear, in order to shorten the length of suffering.

In most people who experience migraine headaches symptoms, they are a problem that reoccurs. For whatever reason, certain people are more prone to attacks of migraines and will have the symptoms on multiple occasions.

Generally, migraine headache symptoms last 4-72 hours, and many times a simple dose of an anti-inflammatory and a good nights sleep will stop a headache. But if you are one of the chronic sufferers, then you know that a migraine can last..well.....forever.

Migraines are often labeled with different terms such as common migraine, classic migraine, vascular headache, stress headache, tension headache, aura, migraineur, status migrainosus, Raeder syndrome, histamine cephalalgia, histamine headache, sphenopalatine neuralgia, eye pain headache, severe headache, Horton's neuralgia, and estrogen-withdrawal headache

Basilar Migraine

Basilar migraine or basilar artery migraine as it is sometimes called, is one of those atypical headaches that can have frightening symptoms. This pain is unlike usual migraines. The pain is usually severe, throbbing at localized at the back of the head. It may be accompanied by severe vertigo (the sense that the room is spinning), difficulty walking and most commonly, visual disturbances.

Other common migraine headache symptoms may also occur such as nausea, vomiting and having the light and sounds bother you. Rarer symptoms are jerking movements of the eyes, ringing in the ears and loss of consciousness. Severe vertigo is quite common and can be disabling.