The safety of acupuncture for migraine prevention during pregnancy.

Relief from migraine attacks may be obtained through non-pharmacological therapy during pregnancy when most drugs are contraindicated. There is accumulating evidence for the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for migraine in the general population but very little to no data on acupuncture during pregnancy. With this retrospective study, we wanted to determine whether an association exists between acupuncture treatment and preterm delivery and side effects of therapy.

Gender-related differences in migraine.

Migraine is considered mostly a woman's complaint, even if it affects also men. Epidemiological data show a higher incidence of the disease in women, starting from puberty throughout life. The sex-related differences of migraine hold clinical relevance too.

Estrogen, migraine, and vascular risk.

Migraine has a predilection for female sex and the course of symptoms is influenced by life stage (presence of menstrual cycle, pregnancy, puerperium, menopause) and use of hormone therapy, such as hormonal contraception and hormone replacement therapy. Hormonal changes figure among common migraine triggers, especially sudden estrogen drop. Moreover, estrogens can modulate neuronal excitability, through serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and endorphin regulation, and they interact with the vascular endothelium of the brain.

Treating migraine with contraceptives.

At least 18% of women suffers from migraine. Clinically, there are two main forms of migraine: migraine with aura (MA) and migraine without aura (MO) and more than 50% of MO is strongly correlated to the menstrual cycle. The high prevalence of migraine in females, its correlation with the menstrual cycle and with the use of combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) suggest that the estrogen drop is implicated in the pathogenesis of the attacks.

Frovatriptan plus dexketoprofen in the treatment of menstrually related migraine: an open study.

At least 50 % of female migraineurs experience migraine associated with the perimenstrual period, even though they may also suffer from attacks at other times of the cycle (menstrually related migraine, MRM). MRM attacks tend to be longer and more intense than those arising in other phases of the menstrual cycle, and are often aggravated by more pronounced vegetative phenomena. In this open preliminary trial, we tested the efficacy of associating frovatriptan and dexketoprofen for the treatment of an acute attack of MRM, diagnosed according to the criteria of the International Headache Society, in 24 patients between 19 and 45 years of age (mean 31.

Acupressure in the control of migraine-associated nausea.

Migraine is a disabling neurological disorder, aggravated by accompanying symptomatology, such as nausea. One of the most interesting approaches to nausea adopted by traditional Chinese medicine is the stimulation of the acupoint PC6 Neiguan. Actually there are no studies in medical literature as to the efficacy of treating PC6 acupoint for gastrointestinal symptoms in migraine attacks.

Acupuncture in primary headache treatment.

Acupuncture has a long tradition of use for the treatment of many pain conditions, including headache. Its effectiveness has been studied mainly for primary headaches, particularly for migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has two diagnostic frameworks for headaches: meridian diagnoses, based on the location of the pain and on the meridians (or channels) that pass through it; syndrome diagnoses, dependent on external or internal factors and on the characteristics of the pain.

Acupuncture treatment as breastfeeding support: preliminary data.

Objectives: This article investigates the efficacy of acupuncture for the maintenance of breastfeeding during the first 3 months of a newborn's life.

Subjects And Interventions: After written informed consent was obtained, 90 women were randomly divided into two groups: acupuncture treatment or observation. Acupuncture sessions were performed twice weekly for 3 weeks (total six sessions).

Non-pharmacological approach to migraine prophylaxis: part II.

Acupuncture has been used to both prevent and treat diseases for over 3,000 years. Recently, a Cochrane review on its use in migraine concluded that acupuncture is effective and should be considered as a prophylactic measure for patients with frequent or insufficiently controlled migraine attacks. In contrast, there is no clear evidence to support or refute the use of homeopathy in the management of migraine.

Headache induced by the use of combined oral contraceptives.

Although combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are a safe and highly effective method of birth control, they may also give rise to problems of clinical tolerability in migraine patients. Indeed, headache is among the most common side effects reported with the use of COCs, frequently leading to their being discontinued. The latest International Classification of Headache Disorders identified at least two entities evidently related to the use of COCs, i.

Migraine and stroke: the role of oral contraceptives.

The use of oral contraceptives (OCs) confers an increased risk for ischaemic stroke (IS). This risk slightly decreases, but remains significant, if low-dose formulations are used, particularly if other risk factors, such as hypertension or smoking, are associated. Some inherited prothrombotic conditions (e.