We can think of the treatment of migraine as treating the acute attack and utilizing preventive treatment for people with frequent and severe headaches. A sort of ‘revolution’ in the treatment of acute migraine attacks came along in the early 1990s with the approval of sumatriptan for acute migraine therapy. Triptans are migraine specific pain killers that provided relief for countless people who were suffering from migraines due to inadequate responses to the available treatments at the time.
The next ‘revolution’ in the care of migraine patients came in the late 1980s when a molecule called CGRP was discovered. It was found that patients experiencing an acute migraine attack had elevated levels of CGRP in their bloodstream and when these patients were treated with acute migraine-specific therapies, such as sumatriptan, their headaches would improve and their CGRP levels would come down. Since then, scientists have been trying to develop medications that work on this CGRP pathway to control migraine headaches.
The first such agent was approved in 2018; and, since then, several more have become available in the market.
The currently available CGRP-based therapies are used for migraine prevention in patients who are experiencing frequent, severe and debilitating headaches. Interestingly, CGRP-based therapies have also been approved as acute migraine-specific therapies and one agent to particular is approved in North America for both acute and preventive treatment.
Over a billion people worldwide suffer from migraine headaches. Studies have shown us that almost half the people suffering from migraine are unaware of their condition and diagnosis. They may not have sought medical attention or may have been misdiagnosed with conditions such as tension or sinus headaches. The importance of recognizing migraine and receiving a proper diagnosis is that migraine-specific therapies are now available and can tremendously improve a person’s quality of life by reducing the burden of migraine symptoms. This will help patients enjoy good social lives with their families and enable them to perform their jobs adequately without undue pain and suffering.
