Toward a Deeper Understanding of Headache and Migraine

Headache, and Migraine in particular, are the most common neurologic complaints in medicine and accounts for more disability than any condition other than back pain. Over half of all headache patients are either misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed and most non-headache specialists have minimal or no training in the diagnosis and management... read moreof the condition. Chronic pain is now generally recognized as a condition distinct from acute pain not only clinically but pathophysiologically and diagnostic and treatment strategies for chronic pain are wholly different from those used in acute pain management. Indeed, over the past few decades it has been well-demonstrated that pharmacologic and interventional treatments for acute pain (e.g., Opioids, surgical interventions) are not only ineffective but often harmful in the chronic pain patient.

At the same time a growing body of research has demonstrated that migraine has genetic, anatomic, behavioral, and physiologic correlates that can be demonstrated with functional imaging, proteomics, and big data analytics. These data are informing diagnostic and treatment strategies that are more effective in distinct populations of headache sufferers.

In this lecture series, a comprehensive approach to the diagnosis and management of headache syndromes will provide the non-headache specialist with sufficient tools to navigate this most challenging area of clinical practice as well as inform prospective researchers of promising areas for exploration.