NUCCA News - Many Teens Stop Having Migraines as They Get Older

Tue Dec 24,10:54 AM ET Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo!

Health - Reuters

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=571&ncid=751&e=10&u=/nm/20021224/hl_nm/migraines_teenagers_dc

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Between 19% and 45% of teens who suffer from migraine appear to grow out of the headaches, according to the results of a small study from Italy.

Migraines are marked by intense, throbbing pain, sensitivity to light and sometimes nausea and vomiting. The process underlying migraine headaches is not fully understood, but researchers generally believe that it involves some changes in the brain's blood vessels.

"As far as we know, this is the first published long-term follow-up study of migraine in a selected population aged 16 to 19 years," write lead author Dr. Rosolino Camarda and colleagues at the University of Palermo.

In their study, the researchers followed a group of 64 teens diagnosed with headaches over a period of 5 years. The findings are published in the December issue of the journal Headache.

Specifically, Camarda's team found that there was a high persistence rate--about 56%--for kids experiencing migraine without aura. Auras are certain sensations, such as a smell or flashes of light, that are harbingers of an oncoming migraine. Still, nearly 19% of kids with this type of migraine stopped having the headaches. The remainder continued to have headaches, but not those considered migraines.

In contrast, those who originally had migraine-like symptoms or headaches not considered to be migraines were much less likely to have their symptoms persist over time. Only 11% to 14% of such youngsters continued to have headaches, or had them change into migraine headaches. Overall, 36% to 45% of those children stopped having headaches altogether, the report indicates.

"The present study confirmed previous observations regarding the tendency of migraine to remit or improve in a large number of cases when adolescents reached adulthood," Camarda and colleagues write.

"Our data indicate that juvenile-onset migraine without aura and migraine disorder may change in character over time, generally with a favorable prognosis," they conclude.

SOURCE: Headache 2002;42:1000-1005.