Behind the Headlines: New drug shows promise for preventing migraines
“Millions of people are set to benefit from the first new migraine drug in 20 years,” reports the Mail Online.
New research found the injectable drug erenumab cut the number of days people had migraines from an average of 8 a month to between 4 and 5 a month.
Millions of people in the UK get migraines. Symptoms include severe headache, dizziness, nausea and aversion to light.
Migraine-specific drugs include a group of drugs called triptans, which are used to try to ease the symptoms of attack once it starts, and several drugs that are used to try to prevent attacks. But these drugs aren’t always effective and can have unwelcome side effects.
The new drug is thought to disable a protein known as calcitonin gene-related peptide. Previous research found this protein may play a part in migraine symptoms.
A second drug that works in a similar way, fremanezumab, is also being tested.
This new drug is not yet available as any new drugs have to be licensed by the European Medicines Agency and assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) before they can be made available on the NHS.
You can find more information on the treatments currently available for migraines, as well as advice on avoiding potential migraine triggers.
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