WW - Migraine’s Painful Truths with Angie Glaser

[00:00:30] John Salak: Headaches are literally a pain in the noggin that almost everyone experiences from time to time. Annoying, draining, uncomfortable, they can ruin a person's day. Now think of migraines. They are headaches on steroids. These attacks can cause debilitating, throbbing head pain that can leave sufferers laid up for days at a time, unable to work or simply function.

Migraines can lead to fatigue, nausea, vision changes, irritability, and much more, none of which is any good. Sadly, migraines are pretty common, affecting millions of Americans every year. It's possible that the number of sufferers may even be growing. All this painful news brings questions. Why are so many people getting migraine attacks?

Who's at risk, and what can be done about it? June is a perfect time to ask these questions, as it is officially Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. Thankfully, our upcoming guest is an authority on all things migraine, who can help answer these questions and provide some relief. So if you suffer from migraines, or you know someone who does, it's worthwhile listening up. So welcome to what we always consider the best part of our podcast and that's where we dive into the topic for the day with an expert on migraines, both from a professional and a personal level, and that is Angie Glasser. She's an editor at Migraine Again, and she also has her own personal blog which is Chronic Migraine Life.

So, Angie, welcome to our podcast.

[00:02:07] Angie Glaser: Thank you, John. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to talk about this topic. As you mentioned, I have both a personal and professional relationship with it. I've been living with it since I was a young girl, so I have lots of experience.

[00:02:23] John Salak: We do want to talk about how it's affecting you. Let's get some, just some basics out there for people. Everyone knows about migraines. I mean, everyone has heard of migraines if they haven't suffered from them directly or they know somebody who suffered from them. How many people are dealing with migraines or migraine attacks?

And that's another aspect I want to talk about because there seems to be a issue in the migraine or neurological communities to whether we should call the migraines or migraine attacks. But first of all, how many people are suffering from these severe attacks?

[00:02:54] Angie Glaser: So migraine is really common worldwide. It's the second leading cause of disability. Among women ages 15 to 49, which includes me, it's the first leading cause of disability. So in the United States, that translates to about 44 million people with migraine, and it affects every one in four households.

And more and more people are getting diagnosed, but that doesn't necessarily mean that more people have the condition, although some researchers do suspect that pollution and climate change might increase that global incidence over time.

Some estimates that up to 50 percent of people with migraine actually have not been diagnosed. Migraine tends to run in families and it's really stigmatized. So it's not uncommon for somebody to watch their parent struggle through a migraine attack. They just take themselves out. They go lie down.

They don't talk to a doctor. They just make do. So then when they start experiencing migraine attacks themselves, they just cope with it the way that they've seen their parents. So with less stigma comes more diagnoses, which we're seeing now.

[00:04:01] John Salak: Okay. And I want to just clarify, we're talking about more than 40 million Americans, men and women who are, it's not just women. And we'll get into, do migraines affect a certain demographic more than others? And I believe it's more women. But can you address exactly what is a migraine and how it differs from a headache?

If it does differ, is it just a more severe headache or is there something significantly different about a migraine?

[00:04:24] Angie Glaser: Fantastic question, I love that you brought up the terminology migraine versus migraine, so I'll go into that a little bit. So the broad definition of migraine is that it's a complex neurological condition. It has a genetic basis that affects the way the brain interprets input. from all five senses. So during a migraine attack, which is a flare up of this chronic condition, lights are brighter, sounds are louder, Smells are stronger and movement is painful. So people experiencing a migraine attack will tend to go into a quiet, dark room because the normal everyday stimuli a lightbulb, sunlight, someone speaking at regular volume, It actually gets interpreted in the brain as pain.

And even though it is invisible, a migraine attack, if you were to get a functional MRI while you were experiencing one, they would be able to tell that the activity happening in your brain is not normal.

[00:05:26] John Salak: And how does this differ than just a headache? Is a headache a blood vessel contraction or something like that? I mean, neck aches. Sometimes relate to headache, but what's the difference then?

[00:05:36] Angie Glaser: So that's one of the biggest misconceptions is that migraine is a headache. Head pain and neck pain during a migraine attack can be really severe, but those are not the only symptoms that cause disability. As I mentioned, the light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, smell sensitivity. There's also vertigo, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, tinnitus, cognitive effects like brain fog, difficulty concentrating.

These are all really common symptoms. Now, if you compare that with a tension headache, which is a very common type of headache, tension headache is usually typically pretty mild and moderate, and it doesn't typically affect someone's functioning. 90 percent of people who have a migraine attack experience some kind of disability.

during that attack. Disability is not a bad word. It simply means that you're unable to perform your usual work and life tasks. And it's really unfortunate that a migraine attack can last a long time. So there's actually four phases that your brain goes through during an attack. There's a warning phase we call the prodrome where people can experience cravings for salt or sugar, or they'll yawn a lot or they may even have to go to the bathroom.

More often, the second phase is called the aura phase. About a third of the people with migraine experience aura. I'm one of those folks. The most common aura symptoms are visual disturbances, either like a blind spot in the middle of your vision, or you'll see kind of a jaggedy line on the edge of your vision, or flashing lights.

The one that I experience most often is that everything just looks kind of shimmery, kind of sparkly, like I maybe might have something in my eye. So that's the aura phase. The third phase is the headache phase or the pain phase. That's where the worst of it happens. That's where you're really in it. But then we have a final phase called the postdrome phase, which we like to refer to as the migraine hangover.

It does feel a little bit like an alcohol hangover, of course, without the fun. So during that postdrome phase, the electrical and chemical storm that is happening in your brain during a migraine attack, it's still going. The pain is maybe teetering down a little bit, but people tend to feel just really worn out, like they got hit by a bus.

fatigue is really common, and then also more of those cognitive effects, just having difficulty concentrating. So it can be really difficult to bounce back from a migraine attack, especially if it lasts three days, which it can. Now compare that to a tension headache, which is typically pretty mild and doesn't interfere With your ability to function. A migraine attack is really a neurological storm that affects the whole body.

[00:08:30] John Salak: Are there different types of migraines?

[00:08:31] Angie Glaser: Yes! So, like ice cream, migraine comes in lots of different flavors. The two main ones are migraine with aura and migraine without aura. As I mentioned, a third of the people will experience aura symptoms. You don't have to experience it with every attack to have migraine with aura, but they do experience it with some attacks.

There are some rarer types. A hemiplegic migraine is a pretty rare sub variant that has some kind of scary symptoms that can resemble a stroke. So tingling in the feet, sometimes one sided weakness. And then vestibular migraine is another subtype that's more common. This type of migraine is characterized by dizziness and vertigo, and sometimes people won't have any kind of head pain at all with the vestibular migraine.

So that's another reason why migraine is not just a headache.

[00:09:25] John Salak: Got it. And let's talk about who's most susceptible to migraines . Is it age factors are there other factors and just as a personal reference as a child I would get migraines on occasion.

Not all the time, but I can remember six or eight really bad migraines. But I've only gotten one or two since then. So does age play a factor? Can it play a factor? Are there other aspects? Who's most susceptible and what are the other variants in terms of demographics we might look at?

[00:09:53] Angie Glaser: So men, women, and children, All have migraine. And it's kind of interesting, the prevalence of migraine among boys and girls is about the same until they hit puberty. Once they hit puberty, women are three times more likely to have migraine than men. And they suspect that estrogen plays a big role in this reason.

So migraine is genetic, but it's also influenced by environmental factors like hormones, as I mentioned, or stress. People who experience early life stress or ongoing trauma, they're going to have a greater risk of developing migraine. In fact, veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan War have some of the highest incidences of migraine as a result of the physical trauma from concussions, but also the emotional stress that comes with it being in active combat.

[00:10:44] John Salak: How does genetics play a role in this also?

[00:10:47] Angie Glaser: So scientists have identified about 30 different gene mutations that can lead to migraine. So no two people with migraine have the exact same thing going on. Someone may be born with that migraine gene. Like, You, for example, you have that migraine gene. You experienced some migraine attacks as a kid.

You maybe were not exposed to external environmental factors that would have kicked your migraine into a higher gear. So you were kind of able to come back from it and it doesn't affect your life too much. Now, somebody who was born with that same gene, who experiences these environmental factors, hormones or stress. That person may have more migraine symptoms in their lives. And the hormonal connection, once again, is another reason. My migraine attacks didn't get really bad until middle school, and that's until I hit puberty in middle school, and that's really common and pregnancy and menopause are also kind of life experiences that can trigger migraine attacks in somebody who has that genetic disposition.

[00:11:53] John Salak: In terms of hormones or women more susceptible to migraines especially as you branch out from puberty does that lessen over time? Statistically. It may not for everyone, but statistically will migraines lessen over time?

[00:12:07] Angie Glaser: It can. Some folks will, if they have a strong hormonal connection and they hit menopause, their migraines may go away completely. Some people, however, find the opposite, where menopause can trigger more migraine attacks.

So it's really difficult to kind of predict how migraine is going to act in any given person and during any stage of their lives.

[00:12:30] John Salak: Yeah. Yeah. One in four people experience migraines to some degree or another and this number may be rising. It could be environmental issues. It could be other issues, and it could be the whole role of diagnostics, either people more willing to you determine whether they're suffering from migraines or the ability of medical practitioners to proactively identify that because we see that in a lot of different issues some of the stigma being reduced. So people are more willing to investigate it and just better diagnostics. Is that what's happening here?

Also, in terms of perhaps a number rising.

[00:13:02] Angie Glaser: Yes, absolutely. Primary care physicians are becoming more and more comfortable diagnosing and treating migraine, which is really important because it is not difficult to diagnose. But as more people feel less stigmatized, they see that they have options. Maybe they see a commercial on TV for a new medication.

That can be the catalyst that gets somebody into a doctor's office to get that initial diagnosis.

[00:13:24] John Salak: Before we get into treatments or what someone can do to try and bring this under control themselves. What are the dangers associated with migraines? Are there risks it can lead to other medical complications? Are there other physical aspects that migraines may bring?

Bring about.

[00:13:39] Angie Glaser: The biggest one is that people with migraine have a higher incidence of stroke and heart disease than people without migraine. So if you already, if you have other risk factors for stroke and heart disease, it's important to know if you also have migraine because that increases your incidence. There may be a connection between migraine and dementia, although there isn't a lot of great evidence right now. That's still pretty early.

[00:14:06] John Salak: Mm hmm.

[00:14:07] Angie Glaser: But the impact that it has on your life is probably the biggest risk associated with it.

[00:14:14] John Salak: Can you tell us how it's impacted your life, given the fact you reference that it started in grade school or middle school, it got really bad. Can you tell us what's your journey been like?

[00:14:24] Angie Glaser: Absolutely. So I was diagnosed really young. As I said, when I hit middle school, that was the first time I got a migraine attack that lasted days. I missed like three days of school and I was just in a dark room. for days. Went to a neurologist, they helped me get them under control. My migraine attacks were mostly controlled throughout high school.

When I hit college, however, I started to get them more and more frequently. I saw a doctor, he got me on a preventive medication, I got them under control once again. And then a couple years after I graduated, I entered the workforce and over the course of a year, my migraine attacks went from Maybe three a year to once a month, and then twice a month, and then three times a month.

So in the course of a year, I progressed pretty drastically. I was working as a park ranger actually in Yosemite National Park,

[00:15:20] John Salak: Oh, wow.

[00:15:21] Angie Glaser: and I had to resign my job, unfortunately, because I just could not get out of bed.

[00:15:27] John Salak: Wow.

[00:15:28] Angie Glaser: Eventually, I applied for Social Security Disability Insurance at the ripe old age of 24, I believe.

I applied for Social Security Disability Insurance at the ripe old age of 24, I believe. so that was my low point. But a huge lifeline for me during this time was the online community. You mentioned that I have a blog I love to write. So that was really cathartic for me to just kind of get my story out there, connect with other people.

There are tons of people out there who deal with this. I have had some success with treatments. I'm a lot less disabled now. I have a full time job. I've been able to go back to work, which is great. So huge. I do work from home, which is incredible. I have accommodations that make it so that I can work,

[00:16:07] John Salak: Sure.

[00:16:08] Angie Glaser: I've been on a bit of a roller coaster and my experience is not that uncommon.

It's pretty common for people to kind of cycle back and forth different seasons of their lives. They'll have, migraine will have a different impact.

[00:16:20] John Salak: And do you know, is it a hormonal, is it stress? I mean, I'm not making fun of being a park ranger. It sounds like a wonderful job. And I don't mean that park rangers don't work hard. It doesn't sound stressful. And maybe it is. I don't know. Again, I'm not denigrating park rangers. I wish there were more of them. But you know, what may have triggered that, you know, after college. College may be a different experience.

[00:16:42] Angie Glaser: It's really hard to say, unfortunately. So I definitely have a genetic component. I mean, it could have been that, you know, my, my card was just up that time in my life, my brain was just, this is what's going to happen.

[00:16:57] John Salak: Yeah.

[00:16:58] Angie Glaser: I wish I had an answer because then I could maybe undo it.

[00:17:02] John Salak: And let's go back a little bit to when you were in middle school or when the attacks first came. They weren't as frequent. Did your parents recognize it was a migraine that you were suffering from? But they didn't, I don't want to say they didn't think it was a big deal. It was obviously a big deal. But you said it was diagnosed. Did you know before you actually went to a neurologist it was a migraine? Or did everybody assume it was a migraine and they said, okay, this is getting bad. We have to see what can be done about it.

[00:17:29] Angie Glaser: The very first attack that I had, I was three and a half. I had terrible headache. I was crying, holding my head. And then I vomited and I felt better. My dad gets migraine attacks, so my mom recognized that. The headache plus vomiting equals migraine in most instances. So I was able to get diagnosed early.

And I got some fairly good treatment from my physicians. Part of my downfall is that prior to 2018, there was really only one class of medication that's used to treat an

acute attack. There's actually two. But those just did not work for me. So I was kind of just in a waiting, holding pattern. I'd get an attack and I would just have to wait for it to go away.

That right there is a huge risk factor for it turning into chronic migraine. And it's pretty important. to treat those attacks as soon as you can.

[00:18:25] John Salak: So let's talk about what's involved in terms of medical treatments for migraines?

[00:18:31] Angie Glaser: So, since 2018, we've seen some really huge advancements in migraine treatment, but I want to back up a little bit and set the stage

[00:18:39] John Salak: huh, Uh huh, Uh huh, Uh

[00:18:40] Angie Glaser: So, every person with migraine should have an acute medication or an acute treatment that they take when they get an attack.

Most people with migraine, if you experience four or more migraine days a month, you can benefit from prevention.

Before 2018, all of the drugs that were used for migraine prevention were made for another condition, and then doctors noticed that they were helping people control their migraine almost on accident. So beta blockers that lower your heart rate, antidepressants, anti seizure meds, even Botox. These are all used to prevent migraine attacks, and they still are used to prevent migraine attacks.

In 2018, however, we saw the first migraine preventive medication that was actually made just for migraine. This drug hit the scene in 2018. It was called Aimovig. And it was followed by three more medications in that same class. And Galadie, What makes these drugs kind of exciting for people with migraine is they're super targeted.

They're created to act on a neuropeptide, in the brain that's called calcitonin gene related peptide, CGRP. CGRP is just one of the chemicals that's involved in a migraine attack. If you take a blood test during a migraine attack, you can see that you have elevated levels of CGRP.

And because these are so targeted, they come with few side effects, so people can tolerate them. Now, since then, we've seen even more CGRP drugs. A second class has come out that we call the G Pants. This includes Nurtec, UBRELVY, QULIPTA and ZAVZPRET. Even better, the FDA has also cleared a handful of neuromodulation devices.

These are non invasive devices that you put on your forehead, your head, or your arm, and they use magnets or electricity to interfere with your nervous system. Very similar to a TENS machine.

And these are great because they don't use medication, so younger kids can use them, adolescents can use them, and you can also combine them with your medications to get more relief.

So we're now seeing, for the first time in history, this menu of migraine options that were developed just for migraine that deliver really spectacular results for some people. I am not the only person who was on social security disability and was able to go back to work. I know a handful of other folks in that same boat.

So these can be really life changing. They don't work for everyone, however, but I want listeners to know that there is research in the works now looking at a different neuropeptide. So we may see more treatments coming in the future. So if you tried one of these drugs and they didn't help you, maybe talk to your doctor about trying another one, but definitely do not lose hope because we should see even more.

treatments come on the scene.

[00:21:44] John Salak: Are we seeing more because more funding is going into it? Obviously, funding is always key with any issue.

[00:21:49] Angie Glaser: Migraine research is unfortunately incredibly underfunded. However, the scientists who discovered CGRP, they discovered it back, I think, in the 90s. They discovered that it was part of the migraine. They were working under the NIH, so they were using federal research dollars to discover this mechanism. The first drugs they made that acted on CGRP had some liver issues.

So, basically, since the early 90s, they've been trying to formulate these drugs in a way that blocks CGRP but aren't harmful. And around 2015, I believe, is when they got to that third phase, and that's when pharmaceutical companies jumped in and were like, let's take this to the next level. Let's turn these into

[00:22:34] John Salak: Why is it so hard to develop preventative measures? Is it because it's different, affects everyone differently, or the triggers are different for you versus my wife who suffers from migraines or someone else is that the real stumbling block to finding a blanket cure, a blanket preventative medicine?

[00:22:53] Angie Glaser: Yes, researchers are not incredibly confident about exactly what's happening in your brain during a migraine attack. We know some things, you know that there's abnormal electrical activity and neuroinflammation, but it's such a complicated process, and it is

different for everyone.

[00:23:11] John Salak: hmm.

[00:23:12] Angie Glaser: Before, unfortunately, that lack of funding, in part because it was stigmatized, and also because Women suffer from it more, and of course it's not a fatal disease, so

Should rightly go to fatal diseases, but a lack of research over decades has kind of put us in a position where we're a little bit behind on migraine treatments.

[00:23:35] John Salak: Why do you think that was? Was it because people didn't take it seriously? People didn't talk about it a lot? Or it wasn't a life threatening disease, though? I mean, suffering migraines on a two or three times a month basis, pretty debilitating. Pretty wrecking, I would imagine.

[00:23:54] Angie Glaser: I believe it has to do with stigma coming from both the patients and the doctors.

Some people are reluctant to go get a diagnosis. Some people may go to their physician and get a misdiagnosis. That happened to me. Actually, I was misdiagnosed as having sinus Headache.

[00:24:13] John Salak: Okay.

[00:24:14] Angie Glaser: So there's some stigma on the patient side, but there's also stigma on the doctor's side.

I've heard of headache specialists being kind of denigrated among peers because they've chosen an unfancy

So

Comes with the lack of research. The NIH has funding. Patient organizations have been working very hard in DC to increase that funding.

And it is there. It's starting to increase.

But the second issue now is that we don't have a ton of researchers who have devoted their lives to studying this. They are there, but we're just a little bit behind when it comes to federally funded research.

[00:24:54] John Salak: And that's amazing in terms of both funding, well, everyone wants more funding. We've never spoken to anyone who doesn't think there needs to be, whether it's epilepsy or Lou Gehrig's disease or anything else, and I'm not saying that lightly. But it's amazing given the fact that perhaps one in four people. suffer from migraines. And again, you're not talking about headaches. You're not talking about watching the Mets and going, Oh my God, they blew another ninth inning lead. I'm getting a headache. No it's a migraine, which is so much more severe and so frequent. It's amazing that there, there hasn't been more research into this. What about anyone who's suffering from migraines? Yes, they may have a preventative medicine that is working. What happens if they get a migraine, does medicine then come into effect to lessen it or is it just once you've gotten it, you've got to let it ride it out?

[00:25:42] Angie Glaser: Definitely. Every person who has migraine attacks should have some medication in their toolbox that they take when they get an attack. And some folks Can use over the counter medication, and it works well. Ibuprofen works really well for some people not everybody. If those over the counter drugs are not helping, that's when you really need to talk to a doctor about getting a migraine specific medication.

It's interesting, these tryptins, they're not painkillers. If you have any other kind of pain, it won't affect it at all. It just interrupts that migraine path

[00:26:20] John Salak: Yeah. And what about lifestyle? Obviously, if you've been through this a lot you begin to, I guess, recognize your triggers, like what would most likely trigger a migraine? And you also begin to, I assume, know that one's about to hit you. Are there other lifestyle changes that someone can make to lessen, the chances of getting a migraine?

[00:26:40] Angie Glaser: Yes, that's a fantastic question. A very important question. So, some of the risk factors for migraine evolving, you can't control. Like, being a woman, your genetic makeup, or experiencing trauma. But there are risk factors that you can control, like not smoking, trying to keep a healthy weight, If you have another condition along with migraine, anxiety, or depression, or sleep apnea, managing that condition as best as you can is really helpful because those conditions tend to feed off of each other.

A few of the lifestyle strategies that I personally swear by are sleep hygiene. Irregular sleep is one of the most common universal triggers. Broken sleep, not enough sleep. So I am very conscious of my sleep habits. I try to go to bed around the same time every night and wake up around the same time every morning, on the weekends, which isn't that fun, but it really helps me.

I don't wake up with a migraine attack as often. And then when it comes to food and diet, some folks are able to identify a food trigger and they avoid it and it helps them manage their condition. I have not been able to, I mean, except for maybe alcohol, but I haven't found a real trigger. The most important thing with diet is to not go too long without eating.

So the migraine brain really likes routine, snacks, every three to four hours. Try not to let yourself get to a place where you're, too hungry.

[00:28:21] John Salak: Someone who's suffering from migraines or is susceptible to migraines, is the natural reaction to stay in bed, I don't mean when you're getting an attack, is, obviously when you're getting an attack and you're exhausted, you're in pain, you just want to hunker down, and I assume that's probably a good thing to do. But, you were talking about it was tough on the weekends. I would assume that someone who's susceptible to migraines really wants to sleep a lot.

Is that a misconception?

[00:28:44] Angie Glaser: No, absolutely not. There are some theories that people with migraine need more sleep. I personally try to get 10 hours a night, which is a lot for a lot of people, but it does really help me.

[00:28:57] John Salak: Okay. Alright. And okay, so, and I know we could go on, not on and on, but there's so much to talk about here. Where do you think we're going to be in 5 or 10 years in terms of dealing with migraines, identifying migraines, getting in front of it? I know you're saying there's some more research, there's some more funding coming in. Do you have hope for progress on a wide scale in terms of dealing with this in 5, 10 years?

[00:29:13] Angie Glaser: I do. I think there are a couple of ways this will go in the future. So we'll have more treatments, hopefully,

We'll also have greater access to the treatments. that exist. So these preventive medications have been out for several years. They work really well for some folks, but some folks just don't have access to them if they haven't been diagnosed, if their physician doesn't know about them.

So there's a real push to increase use of these, and that really comes also with prevention. Really trying To get people who live with migraine to be really proactive about prevention. It's not that some Of those preventive medications are a pill that you take every day, which some people may be a little wary about.

But chronic migraine, once that wildfire gets going and you're experiencing symptoms on 15 or more days each month, it's so difficult to manage. So really being proactive about prevention, even if it's just your sleep schedule or not drinking too much alcohol, those kinds of things can help

[00:30:24] John Salak: right.

[00:30:25] Angie Glaser: doesn't progress.

[00:30:26] John Salak: So would be common for some people who are susceptible to migraine attacks may be dealing with this symptoms or warnings or auras or whatnot, half the time of their, half the days they're

[00:30:37] Angie Glaser: or all days. So,

[00:30:38] John Salak: or that's what I was going to ask.

[00:30:39] Angie Glaser: that's my experience. It's been so frustrating. I, it was like a flip switch. On July 3rd, 2013, I remember the day. Since then, I've had daily symptoms. And this is

pretty common, people with migraine. Like I mentioned earlier, there are these different phases of migraine. So I'm not always in that headache attack phase where I just really need to check out.

But I do have a low lying headache and light is always a little bit brighter for me. So it can be really tricky once you're in that position and it's just really entrenched in your brain.

[00:31:18] John Salak: Right. Did your father suffer or does he suffer from this sort of extreme migraine wave or overwhelming presence?

[00:31:28] Angie Glaser: Gratefully no.

[00:31:30] John Salak: Okay.

[00:31:31] Angie Glaser: of people in my family who have it and nobody has it quite as bad as I do.

[00:31:35] John Salak: Okay. You're the lucky

[00:31:36] Angie Glaser: Yep. Yep. Yep.

[00:31:38] John Salak: So I want to talk about just two other things for now. One is we'd done some research obviously before we spoke to you and there seems to be some controversy in the industry whether migraine should be called migraines Or migraine attacks. Are you aware of this controversy and can you explain it a little bit just so people if they come across it they're not going to be confused. Yeah,

[00:32:03] Angie Glaser: This is a big push within the migraine advocacy community to change the way that we talk about it. Most people will say colloquially, I get migraines. Which sounds pretty casual if you say I have migraine disorder, or I have migraine disease, or I have a migraine attack. Those terms more accurately describe the experience.

And the goal here is to try to legitimize the experience migraine is not just this inconvenience that comes up every once in a while, but a chronic condition like asthma. You wouldn't say, I have asthmas, or I'm getting asthmas. You refer to the condition by a singular name.

[00:32:47] John Salak: All right. So let's try and wrap this up with really what's the biggest misconception people have when they're dealing with the issue of migraine attacks?

[00:32:57] Angie Glaser: biggest misconception about migraine is that it's an inconvenience or an episodic issue that pops up, you take a couple ibuprofen, you go about your day, and everything's fine. That is not true, unfortunately. Migraine is a chronic condition. Even if you aren't experiencing a migraine attack, you still have that disorder.

[00:33:23] John Salak: Mm hmm.

[00:33:23] Angie Glaser: Migraine attacks begin really deep in the brain, and in some folks who have chronic migraine, they can experience symptoms. all the time. So the biggest misconception is that it's merely an inconvenience or just a headache, whereas the impact that it has on people's lives can be really substantial.

[00:33:42] John Salak: And given that it's June and it's Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. This is the perfect topic to talk about and get out there. We'd like to thank you for sharing your personal experience, your professional background and insights on this. We certainly recommend everybody visit the blog you support, which is chronicmigrainelife. com and also the website which is migraine again, is that correct?

[00:34:06] Angie Glaser: It is, and at MigraineAgain. com, we have a three question quiz that can help you know if you have migraine attacks. if you suspect you might have it, head over and take that quiz.

[00:34:20] John Salak: Okay, we will do that and we will provide links again Both later on in the broadcast and also we'll put those on our WellWell USA website so people can link in and learn more and delve deeper into this issue So angie, thank you so much for your time and your insights. And letting us know your personal story as well on how this has affected you.

[00:34:40] Angie Glaser: Thank you so much .

[00:34:41] John Salak: Before we dish out some health hacks, we want to again remind everyone of the hundreds of exclusive discounts members of our WellWellBeing community enjoy. These include everything from fitness and athletic equipment, to personal care products, organic foods and beverages, and more.

Joining our WellWellBeing community is easy and free. Just visit us at WellWellUSA. com, go to Milton's Discounts on the pull down menu, and you'll see the sign up sheet. Signing up takes just seconds, but the benefits can last for years. Enjoy. So, migraines, or migraine attacks, are obviously serious matters.

They are also widespread, with at least one in four Americans suffering from these bouts. This number may even be rising, which should put everyone on notice that it is essential to effectively diagnose and treat these attacks. The problem is that migraine episodes can differ widely from person to person, making treatments challenging.

There is, however, good news and wise counsel to consider if you're one of the millions of people dealing with these attacks. First off, funding and research are improving, clearing the way for improved treatments. Diagnostics are also improving, and this lets medical professionals identify and treat these attacks earlier.

A wider variety of treatments are also now available, making it easier to effectively ward off these attacks. 4. And Even if treatments aren't exactly right for everyone, new ones are being developed constantly, which should give all sufferers hope for relief. Finally, lifestyle adjustments can help limit or lessen attacks.

These adjustments include watching or limiting alcohol consumption, stopping smoking, Focusing on improved nutrition and making sure those predisposed to attacks get enough sleep and get regular sleep. Well, that's it for this episode of What the Health. We'd like to thank Angie Glasser for her personal and professional insights into migraine attacks.

We'd also recommend visiting MigraineAgain. com. That's MigraineAgain. com and reading Angie's blog, Chronic Migraine Life, to learn more. They're both great sources of information. Thanks again for listening in, and we hope you'll join us again for What the Health?