p. 7 | Migraine, or Sick-Headache by George Thomason, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 26, 1911

Migraine, or Sick-Headache

By George Thomason, M. D.

GEORGE THOMASON, M. D.

MIGRAINE is an exceedingly painful affliction; which subjects victims from all classes and of all ages to extreme distress and suffering. The fact that it has apparently been handed down from parent to child, and the commonly accepted opinion of its incurable nature, lead many sufferers to the belief that they are hopelessly doomed to years of periodical agony, from which there is no release. This we are glad to say need not necessarily be so.

The pain of migraine is usually upon one side of the head only, principally in the temple and over the eye, and at times centered in the eyeball. In some cases the pain extends to the other side of the head. Its peculiar feature is its periodical recurrence, a varying period elapsing between attacks in different individuals.

There has never been found any structural or organic change in the affected nerves. The condition is believed to be due to a temporary alteration in the circulation of blood in the affected nerves, giving rise to the nerve-storms characterizing the disease. The circulation being presided over by the great sympathetic nervous system, centered in the abdomen, suggests some relation between an irritation of the sympathetic nerves and migraine. The sympathetic nerve-centers become irritated through digestive disturbances, and particularly by a prolapse, or displacement, of the various abdominal organs, as the stomach, intestines, and kidneys. Prolapses of these various organs are almost always found present in a patient suffering from migraine. This fact also probably accounts for the more frequent occurrence of migraine in women, as the practise of tight lacing, so prevalent among women, crowds the abdominal organs out of position, and the consequent general displacement of the organs lays the foundation for migraine through the irritated sympathetic and disordered function of the digestive system.

Many persons suffer from attacks of migraine, and term them “bilious headaches,” owing to the vomiting which usually accompanies the attacks; and naturally, after the stomach has been emptied, bile will be forced into the stomach, and ejected by the mouth. Great relief is often experienced after vomiting, showing that the attack is at least exaggerated by the presence in the alimentary canal of material from which poisonous substances are being absorbed. A coated tongue and fetid breath further indicate digestive disturbance.

Usually, the patient has warning of an approaching attack by a feeling of languor, and at times a feeling of unnatural irritability. Later, the face on the affected side becomes hot; the artery of the temple becomes large and hard; there is profuse secretion of water from the eye on the affected side, with agonizing pain.

Success in the treatment of these cases has followed care along dietetic lines. Patients subject to the affection should especially avoid decomposing food, such as “ripening” game, and meats of all kinds, also cheese, oysters, and shell-fish. Tea and coffee are particularly liable to precipitate an attack. Vinegar, through its interference with starch digestion, and the production of fermentation, also predisposes to an attack. Mustard, pepper, alcohol, and other condiments and stimulants should be entirely excluded from the dietary.

The more simple and wholesome the dietary, the better. Toast or zwieback, gluten, eggs, buttermilk, peas, beans, and lentils, with hulls excluded, nuts and nut preparations, and an abundance of fruit are suggested as among the best foods.

Constipation must be avoided by copious water drinking and eating an abundance of fruit. Exercises in the open air, especially such movements as tend to develop the abdominal muscles, are indicated.

The patient should keep well rested by securing an abundance of sleep, as fatigue favors the onset of an attack. An attack of migraine may sometimes be obviated through exercising care a few days before it is due, by eating very sparingly and drinking copiously, or even washing out the stomach in the evening for two or three days, the patient also securing an extra amount of sleep. The skin should be kept active by daily cold sponge-baths and vigorous friction.

Cape Town, South Africa.