Anti-hypertensive Drug Offers Hope For Migraine Sufferers

During a very busy day you certainly hoped that you will not be attacked by this invisible monster. This invisible monster attacks you with a very painful headache that makes you see flashes of light wherever you focus your eyes on. This invisible monster is not a mythical creature and is indeed real. This monster is called migraine.

Migraine Signs and Symptoms

The headache associated with migraine can deprive you of good sleep and of good functioning at work and can even stretch for hours or even days. This headache surfaces out when you are too tired, when you lack sleep, when you get hungry and during your menstrual cycle (for women). It can also be brought about by tyramine-rich foods such as wine, cheese, liver and foods with monosodium glutamate.

Not only is migraine associated with this horrible headache; oftentimes it is associated with nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to sound and light and diarrhea. Because of these symptoms, new drugs for migraine are currently being discovered and developed.

Candesartan and Migraine

A recent study has discovered that a certain antihypertensive drug can prevent migraine attacks. This antihypertensive drug is Candesartan. Candesartan belongs to the class of antihypertensives known as angiotensin II receptor antagonists. These drugs act to inhibit angiotensin 2, a substance which can cause the blood vessels to narrow or constrict. Angiotensin 2 blockers such as candesartan cause the relaxation and widening of constricted blood vessels so that blood can easily flow through them. This in turn reduces blood pressure. The other effect of candesartan is to increase the release of sodium and water to the urine to further lower blood pressure.

Originally, candesartan was intended to treat high blood pressure, until the 1990s when a retired professor from St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim used it to treat both his hypertension and his migrane. He had observed that candesartan also relieved him of his migraine headache. This event precipitated subsequent studies until some doctors have actually used candesartan to treat migraine in hypertensive patients.

The recent study by researchers from St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) found out that candesartan is just as effective as propanolol, another hypertensive with beta-receptor blocking properties, in preventing migraine attacks. They also found out that candersartan may offer relief in migraine cases which are resistant to propanolol. This study comes from a previous study from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) ten years ago.

Though other doctors have already admitted to using candesartan for preventing migraine attacks, the study has shown that this drug actually works in migraine patients. Some of the volunteers in this study have reported that they actually felt better during a migraine attack when given this drug. This double blind study observed the effects of candesartan, propanolol and placebo in 72 patients who often experienced migraine attacks at least twice a month. These patients used the treatments for 12 weeks and were subjected to four weeks with no treatment. More than 20% of these subjects felt that have felt better when candesartan was given. A few of the patients also observed relief when no treatment was given.

Now that the patent of candesartan is running out, doctors hope that people who have migraine will have better access to cheaper and generic forms of the drug. The researchers also hope that more doctors will be open in prescribing this drug to their migraine patients. More studies are encouraged so that candesartan will become part of treatment guidelines for migraine later on in the future.

Are you interested in learning the latest disease treatments of both common and uncommon illnesses? Feel free to read other latest medical breakthroughs in this site.