Migraine: A Serious But Poorly Understood Disease

Migraine sufferers usually experience intense and stabbing pain on one or both sides of the head. It can even be experienced differently by each person, who may sometimes miss school, work, or social activities until they feel better. The pain can last for a few hours or days. Some individuals may also have migraines once or twice a week, while others may have them more sporadically (once or twice a year).

But this disease does not only involve headaches, it can also be accompanied by an aura, which ranges from a feeling of confusion to tingling in the face or hands, vision with flashing lights or dark spots, distorted sense of smell, taste or touch; as well as nausea and vomiting.

These symptoms affect the daily lives of those who suffer from migraine; however, they can be misunderstood by those who do not suffer from them. The burden of the disease brings with it not only personal impact but also economic costs for society, related to lost work hours and lack of productivity; in addition to the appearance of other diseases such as depression and anxiety in the patient. Imagine that every year around 157 million work days are lost due to this condition. 

 The barriers that prevent migraine from being understood and receiving adequate care

Migraines affect people of all ages and mostly women; however, despite its high incidence, it has been a disease of little interest both in the region and worldwide. One of the main barriers is the lack of knowledge that exists among health personnel, which is why diagnosis and treatment are given to only a minority of these patients.

Along these lines, migraine sufferers often have difficulty communicating the severity of their symptoms and, as a result, often feel that they are not properly assessed by their medical team or that they do not receive the necessary treatment.

Another challenge is the lack of recognition of the burden that this type of headache imposes on society and, therefore, the limited budget for its care. According to the CALM study, carried out in Central America and the Caribbean, 52% of participating patients indicated that migraine has impacted their professional life, which can result in decreased work performance or alter the person’s ability to concentrate, as well as increase the risk of work accidents and conflicts with colleagues or bosses, due to not understanding the type of pain that the person is experiencing.

Something that further impacts their lack of understanding is the lack of information that society in general has about this disease. Many people think that migraines are not serious because they occur in episodes or those who suffer from them are unaware that there are effective treatments for their treatment.

The truth is that migraine is a poorly understood and underestimated disease. How do we reverse this? The task is not easy; however, we can start now by creating alliances with other actors in the sector to raise awareness among the population about the impact of this condition on daily life and the importance of adequate medical care, with well-trained professionals, so that diagnosis is accurate and the person receives both the necessary medications and therapies.

In addition, health entities in countries and companies should take into account the significant savings they could achieve in terms of indirect costs, such as reducing lost work days if greater importance is given to the impact of this disease and resources are allocated for timely access to its treatment.

We must continue to look out for the needs of people living with migraine, providing them with appropriate treatments, as well as preventive options to ease the burden of migraine at personal, work, family, and social levels, allowing them to better control their symptoms and live a fuller life.