New hand-held device offers fresh hope for migraine sufferers
New hand-held device offers fresh hope for migraine sufferers
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Thursday, 04, Mar 2010 12:23
By Sarah Garrod.
Migraine sufferers may soon get help from a new hand-held device which could offer them drug-free pain relief.
Researchers claim the neurological condition - which is the most common in the developed world - could soon be controlled with the use of a device which sends a magnetic pulse to the back of the head.
A study published today found that nearly 40 per cent of patients tested were pain free two hours after treatment from the device.
The authors of the study, published in the Lancet Neurology, said the new device could be a promising non-invasive, non-drug treatment option for patients suffering from migraines, without any serious side-effects.
The study was conducted by scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who trialled a hand-held device emitting a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) which is thought to disrupt the electrical events in the brain which cause the preliminary symptoms of migraines with aura.
Auras are sensory or visual disturbances that occur before a migraine headache sets in.
Although the authors of the study admitted more testing was needed, they added that patients rarely experienced errors when using the device and rated it an average eight out of ten for user-friendliness.
In an accompanying comment, Hans-Christoph Diener from University Hospital Essen in Germany says that these findings show that: "The use of TMS could be a major step forward in the treatment of migraine with aura, particularly in patients in whom presently available drug treatment is ineffective, poorly tolerated, or contraindicated."
The condition, which is more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined, affects around eight million people in the UK.