Migraines: Escaping the Light
Reported January 11, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Many of those who suffer from migraines often turn to darkness for relief. While it’s been known that light worsens the condition, it hasn’t been known why until now.
More than 30 million Americans suffer from one-sided, throbbing headaches that are often accompanied by symptoms of nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Migraines are believed to develop when the meninges, or membranes covering the brain, become irritated. Eighty-five percent of migraine patients also report photophobia, or extreme sensitivity to light.
Scientists have recently discovered a visual pathway that produces sensitivity to light during migraines. Even blind patients, who still have the ability to detect the presence of light, described intensified pain from exposure.
“When small electrodes were inserted into these ‘migraine neurons,’ we discovered that light was triggering a flow of electrical signals that was converging on these very cells,” Rami Burstein, Ph.D., professor of anesthesia and critical care medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., was quoted as saying. “This increased their activity within seconds.”
Source: Nature Neuroscience, published online January 10, 2010