If you've ever had a migraine, you know that the symptoms — splitting headache, nausea, sensitivity to light — mean you're going to want to spend some time in bed, in a dark room.

Migraines are flat out debilitating, and the statistics back this up.

Migraines are the third most common neurological disorder. They affect as many as a billion people around the world, making them one of the world's 10 most disabling diseases according to the World Health Organization. But for all the misery for those who suffer from migraines, it's been a long haul for scientists to figure out what actually causes these episodes, and more importantly, how to provide relief.

We spoke this week with Gabriella Muwanga, a Stanford graduate student who studies what's actually going on in the brain during a migraine. And for good reason — Muwanga has suffered from regular migraines herself since childhood and hopes to contribute to finding better treatments for them in the future.

Links

Muwanga's research profile

The Tawfik lab at Stanford Medicine

The Airan lab at Stanford Medicine

Stanford headache specialist demystifies migraine auras (Stanford Scope Blog, 2017)

Migraine Treatment Has Come a Long Way (New York Times Well Blog, 2022)

References

Ahn, A.H. and Basbaum, A.I. Where do triptans act in the treatment of migraine? Pain. 2005 May; 115(1-2): 1–4.

Charles, A., Baca, S. Cortical spreading depression and migraine. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 637–644 (2013).

Weatherall, M.W. The diagnosis and treatment of chronic migraine. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2015 May; 6(3): 115–123.

Hoffmann, J., Baca, S. M., and Akerman, S. Neurovascular mechanisms of migraine and cluster headache. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2019 Apr; 39(4): 573–594.

Episode Credits
This episode was produced by Michael Osborne, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker and Christian Haigis, and hosted by Nicholas Weiler. Cover art by Aimee Garza.

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