BeeHealthy
Timely Hints for a Healthy Lifestyle
Coping with migraines and other conditions at the same time

When it comes to coping with migraines, America's 29.5 million sufferers have their hands full with the day-to-day impact of this disease, including the physical pain, missed activities and management of medications.

It can be even more difficult to handle these problems if an individual suffers from another medical condition at the same time, referred to as co-morbidity.

The National Headache Foundation conducted an online survey asking sufferers to share their experiences about their migraines and any co-morbid conditions.

Highlights of the survey results are as follows:

89 percent suffer from other health ailments along with their migraine, and depression accounts for 54 percent of those instances.

63 percent have a history of migraine in their family.

55 percent have a family history of their co-morbid condition.

Along with the NHF survey, an article in NHF Head Lines by Dr. Gary Ruoff from the Westside Family Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Mich., indicated that migraine has been clearly associated with an elevated risk for the first onset of major depression.

Conversely, major depression has been linked to an increased risk for the development of migraine.

Further, the presence of both migraine and depression in the same person seems to increase the potential for the existence of other co-morbid disorders.

The NHF Head Lines article noted that in migraine sufferers, co-morbidities such as epilepsy, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and others occur at a significantly higher rate than in sufferers without a history of migraine.

"Migraine is a common disease as are many of the co-morbid conditions revealed by the survey," said Suzanne Simons, executive director of the NHF. "It is important to inform your healthcare provider about other health conditions you may have.

"If you see multiple health-care providers, encourage them to communicate," she said. "This will ensure that you receive the most effective treatments."

For more information on this topic, call 729-7333 or visit www. headaches. org.