Bahman Guyuron, an ASPS member surgeon at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland found that there are abnormalities with the myelin sheath in patients that have migraines. Myelin sheath is a fatty material that protects and insulates the neurons.
The research consisted of 15 patients that underwent surgery for migraines and 15 patients that were undergoing a cosmetic forehead lift. They found in the results that the myelin sheath was either missing or damaged in the 15 patients that underwent surgery for migraines compared to the 15 patients that got a cosmetic forehead lift. Dr. Guyuron states that damage to the myelin sheath can make the nerves more prone to irritation which can trigger migraines.
Dr.Guyuron noticed that many migraine patients had reduced symptoms after undergoing a cosmetic forehead lift. This surgery involved the removal of some muscle and vessel tissue that surrounded the cranial nerves. Since this shows that cranial nerves are also involved this could lead to other opportunities to treat patients in an easier way.
I really enjoyed reading this article because I live with migraines and seeing that they are starting to find different procedures to treat them is great. The more research they do the more they find out and this could possibly lead to more opportunities to find out different ways to treat migraines. It could lead to more easier and inexpensive ways which could be helpful for everyone.
Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141103113557.htm
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article! I know for a long time there has been no cure for migraines so any discovery, small or large, will certainly be a great help. Hopefully, this discovery will lead to more targeted medicine that can alive-ate migraines. I am curious to see if patients who suffer numerous concussions also have a missing or damaged myelin sheath. Additionally, it would be interesting to know how often patients begin to suffer from migraines after multiple concussions.
I really enjoyed reading this article! My mother suffers from migraines almost monthly and learning that researchers are beginning to understand what causes these painful headaches is amazing. I find it interesting that it is found that there are abnormalities in the mylein sheath, but what are the causes for this, and do these abnormalities make these individuals more prone to brain abnormalities down the line?
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