Migraine Mechanisms

摘要

Until recently, scientists believed that migraine was caused by the swelling of blood vessels in the brain, which then pressed on the nerves surrounding them, causing pain. Researchers now say that nerve impulses within the brain actually trigger an inflammatory response in the blood vessels, leading to the sensation of a migraine. "The brain of a migraine-prone person is more sensitive to any change in stimuli, be it hunger, travel, a change in the weather or waking up later on the weekend," says Joel R. Saper, M.D., director of the Michigan Head~* Pain and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor. Estrogen fluctuation is another trigger, he says, especially the plunge in estrogen before menses. (Perhaps that's part of the reason women are three times more likely to get migraines than men.)