The temperatures and the calendar officially mark the beginning of autumn, a difficult season for those living with migraines with aura, two and a half million in Italy alone, it is estimated. Yes, because seasonal changes, from light to weather instability, but also the resumption of work and schools, affect our brain. Adapting thus becomes a little more difficult for those suffering from migraine with aura, and nutraceutical ones can also help, alongside pharmacological strategies.
The help of nutraceuticals
To remember it, just on the occasion of the arrival of autumn, is Giorgio Dalla Volta, Coordinator of the Lombardy Region Section of the Italian Society of Headache Study -SISC and Director of the Headache Center of the Clinical Institute of the City of Brescia-San Donato Group: “As in any other pathology, some pharmacological therapies may not be effective or poorly tolerated. Hence the need in clinical practice for alternative approaches for the treatment of this pathology such as, for example, the use of nutraceuticals. They are food supplements that can provide health benefits and their use is becoming more and more widespread. “In particular, three natural substances seem to help: the mineral magnesium and the extracts of two plants: feverfew and griffonia. “Several scientific studies – continues the expert – have shown that the supplement that brings them together can be used both as a preventive therapy and in the acute phase. It is able to reduce the frequency of attacks and symptoms related to migraine with aura, thus improving the quality of life and reducing the duration and disability of the aura phenomenon, if taken acutely at the first onset of the visual phenomenon “.
Neurological diseases, the first national day is celebrated on 22 September
by Barbara Orrico
Migraine with aura in autumn
The characteristic of this type of migraine in fact – much more frequent in women than in men – is that the painful phase is preceded by the so-called aura: a moment, which can last up to an hour, characterized by the appearance of visual disturbances, movement and difficulty in speaking. Reversible but deabilitating. “The symptoms related to the aura can determine an important disability – continues Dalla Volta – The post-attack discomfort and exhaustion tend to continue even in the following 24 hours. More than half of patients report that they have severe limitations in carrying out their activities, while only one in ten say they do it without problems. All this is very problematic for the entire social and health system, since migraines mainly affect the productive age group ”.
As we said, autumn, with the resumption of activities after the summer break, represents a further challenge for these patients. “The barometric pressure that changes with the arrival of autumn, the instability, the change of light and the progressive reduction of the hours of sunshine exert a destabilizing effect on our neuronal networks, inducing a further destabilization of the neuronal hyper-excitability of the cerebral cortex of migraine patients ”, emphasizes Dalla Volta. The resources made available on the website www.emicraniaconaura.it (created with the contribution of Aesculapius Farmaceutici) can also help, through which it is possible to directly ask the experts questions on symptoms, diagnoses and remedies. There are also cyclically organized live shows with specialist doctors on the Facebook page of the portal (www.facebook.com/emicraniaconauraaddio).