Arizona sun., 1947-01-03
Health For All
MIGRAINE HEADACHE

No age, social, intellectual or
economic group is immune from
the painful migraine headache. 1t
is estimated that five to eight per
cent of the population may suffer
from it in varying degrees from
trifling discomfort to a short, dis
abling illness seriously affecting a
persons business and family life.
Migraine is sometimes caused by
distens;on of the arteries of the
head, by eyestrain, allergy, sinus
disease, glandular disturbances or
emotional crises. It is easily dis
tinguished from other headaches.
It may be of many years standing
and often occurs periodically. The
pain is commonly on one side of
the head. However, it may alter
nate from sde to side and some
times there is general head pain
with face and neck aching also.
Some people see bright flashes of
light before the headache sets in
and have momentary loss of vision.
Other symptoms are nausea, irrit-
ability and, especially intolerance
to noise and light. A single attack
may last from a few minutes to
several days.
Doctors have used many differ
ent drugs to prevent attacks and
relieve the patient. Most successful
has been the early injection into
the muscles of "ergotamine tar
trate" which stops the headache
within an hour in 80 percent of
the cases. It is perfectly safe when
used by your doctor. It should
usually be followed by rest in bed,
even if the patient feels perfectly
well.
Sometimes the drug will not
relieve a headache of several hours
or days duration. Any person who
suffers from severe attacks should
get to the doctor as son as he
feels the first symptoms. The pa
tent may find relief by going to
bed, preferably in a quiet, dark
ened room. Sometimes warm baths
are helpful during a prolonged at
tack. Self-dosing should be avoid
ed.
It must be emphasized that usu-
ally no drug will prevent the head
aches. Migraine may be simply a
danger sign that the individual is
under strain. It is often found
among ambitious people who want
to do things perfectly and like to
have things about them "just so".
Because they are conscientious,
they find it hard to adjust to dis
turbances in their lives.
A migraine sufferer must make
personality and, sometimes, occu-
pational adjustments. He must
avoid worry, fear, resentment or
anger. He needs sympathetic
guidance and reinsurance by ply
sician and common-Sense attitude
toward the simple, but important
factors of his daily life. In this
way, migraine headaches can eth
er be completely eliminated or the
intervals between attacks greatly
prolonged.
In the next article, epilepsy will
be discussed.
EPILEPSY
Two hundred years ago epilepsy
was popularity supposed to be the
work of witches, an incurable hor-
ror in some way associated with
mental disorder. Today we know
better. We know that the great
majority of persons who have epi-
leptic seizures are otherwise nor
NAL. Like other groups they in
clude the brilliant and the dull.
Epilepsy affects more than 500,-
600 people in the United States. We
do not yet fully understand the
cause, but we do know that there
is apparently a family tendency
in about ten million Americans.
The epileptic attack or seizure
may be brought on by brain in
jury or tumor, a focus of infec-
tion, kidney or glandular disturb
ance or excessive emotional strain.
Seizures are of four types. In
Gran Nal, the patient loses con-
ScousneSs, the muscles twitch con-
vlllSive1v and occasion a11v ho fal1s