Coronary Side Effects of Antimigraine Drugs From Patient to Receptor

Migraine is a paroxysmal neurological disorder, which occurs in 6% of males and 15-18% of females, with the highest prevalence between the ages of 25 and 55 years1,2. Attacks consist of moderate or severe headache, associated with nausea, vomiting, photo- and phonophobia3. The headache lasts 4 to 72 hours and increases with physical activity. The migraine attack may be resolved by sleep during or after the headache4. In about 15% of patients (migraine with aura), an aura may precede the migraine headache within about one hour. The aura usually consists of visual symptoms such as fortifications, scotoma or hemianopsia, but may also be sensory (paresthesia), motor- (weakness, paresis) or speech-related (dysarthria, aphasia)1. To study migraine scientifically, there is a clear need for uniform criteria to determine whether a patient is suffering from a migraine headache. In 1988, the International Headache Society (IHS) provided such criteria5 (see Table 1.1 for migraine without and with aura).