Pharmacoeconomic benefits of almotriptan in the acute treatment of migraine.

Almotriptan is one of seven oral triptans available in the USA and much of the rest of the world. Reviews of its efficacy and tolerability demonstrate it to be among the most effective and well tolerated of this class. Studies of almotriptan in a variety of early intervention paradigms demonstrate significant improvements in efficacy and further improved tolerability compared with standard treatment of headaches of at least moderate severity.

Characterization and prediction of emergency department use in chronic daily headache patients.

Objective: To examine the characteristics of chronic daily headache sufferers who use emergency departments (EDs) and identify factors predictive of ED visits.

Background: Several large clinical trials have found that a sizable subset of headache patients uses EDs frequently, although such visits should be preventable.

Methods: Participants in two large clinical trials provided baseline data on ED use, hospitalizations, disability, daily activities, and quality of life.

Women and headache: a treatment approach based on life stages.

Effective headache management in women requires an understanding of the unique epidemiologic and pathophysiologic factors affecting women. We present preventive, abortive, and nonpharmacologic approaches to headache treatment that vary with the chronologic and hormonal stages of a woman's life, with special attention to headache during pregnancy and later in life.