| Q: |
Why do teenagers need to be treated for migraine?
| | A: |
The triggers for a migraine attack are as important for
adolescents as for children and adults. Modern society expects a great
deal from young people. Their schedules are frequently overcrowded and
their diets are often less than ideal. It is very important that
migraine is diagnosed and aggressively treated during puberty. Many of
the adults treated in headache clinics for chronic daily headache (more
than 15 headache days per month) started experiencing symptoms during
their teenage years.
|
| Q: |
How do hormonal changes at puberty in girls contribute to migraine attacks?
| | A: |
For most females, the first migraine attack occurs during puberty
or a year or two before that. If migraine attacks have started at a
younger age, they often increase in frequency the year before
menstruation starts. The sex hormones progesterone and estrogen released
at puberty not only change the physical appearance of the body but also
have effects on brain cell function. It is thought that changes in
levels of estrogen are usually responsible for increased migraine in
girls around the time of puberty.
|
| Q: |
How do hormonal changes at puberty affect boys with migraine?
| | A: |
For boys at puberty there is a rapid increase in levels of the
sex hormone testosterone. For reasons that are not clear, these hormonal
changes often lead to a decrease in the frequency of migraine attacks.
This does not mean men do not have migraine. Their migraine attacks are
more like the attacks seen in children before puberty. Boys appear to
have fewer attacks than girls at puberty.
|
|
