London, UK 12th
September 2000 – Over 2,500 headache specialists and patients from
around the world met throughout last week at Headache World 2000 to share
expert knowledge and to further the understanding of headache and
migraine.
The Scientific
Programme included ground-breaking research and the plenary sessions held
jointly with the Public and Scientific Programmes offered patients and
doctors the opportunity to learn from each other and discuss latest
research from different perspectives.
On Thursday morning, at
an eagerly awaited presentation, Professor Michel Ferrari, of Leiden
University Medical Centre, Holland, asked: ‘Did Picasso suffer from
migraine auras?’. Professor Ferrari, said: "When looking at Picasso’s
‘The Weeping Woman’, I first thought that his highly original and
unusual depiction of human faces were reminiscent of how some migraine
patients saw images when struck down with aura – the bizarre visual
disturbance sometimes experienced by migraine sufferers."
"Although none of
Picasso’s biographers mention that Picasso suffered from migraine or
debilitating headaches, it is possible that he experienced the bizarre
visual aura sometimes accompanying migraine, without actually suffering
the intense migraine pain. Although rare, this condition may have been
overlooked and remained undocumented by biographers," concluded
Professor Ferrari.
During the Public
Programme on Thursday afternoon, Dr Bill Laughey and Dr Giles Elrington
gave role-plays of good and bad patient-doctor consultations towards the
‘partnership model of treating headache’. Together, they demonstrated
the importance of communication in improving patient diagnosis and
treatment.
"In particular,
doctors should ensure that they ask the right questions, questions that
are open-ended and invite the patient to describe the frequency, severity
and nature of their symptoms. Successful dialogue often leads to increased
compliance and patient satisfaction with treatment," said Dr Laughey,
a GP practising in York, UK.
In the final plenary
session, Richard Lipton, Professor of Neurology, Epidemiology and Social
Medicine, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA, gave the
prestigious annual Migraine Trust Lecture by focusing on ‘Frequent
headache: a far too common problem.’
Speaking about the
scope of the problem, Professor Lipton started: "Frequent headaches
are of particular interest because they occur in 4-5% of the general
population. Sufferers experience more days with headache than without.
Frequent headache offers enormous scientific, clinical and public health
opportunities."
"There are a
number of risk factors for frequent headache. These include overuse of
medications, depression, sleep disturbances, hypertension, head injury,
stress and traumatic life events," said Professor Lipton.
"On average,
frequent headache sufferers have headache 270 days per year. Yet, we know
that 55% of sufferers do not have ongoing medical care, and 73% do not
take preventative medication. It is essential for physicians to identify
high-risk individuals, and that sufferers avoid medication overuse which
can increase headache frequency," he concluded.
For more information
contact:
Claire Olivier / Gus
Symons
Headache World 2000 Press Secretariat
Tel: +44 20 7831 6262
Fax: +44 20 7831 0752
Email: gus_symons@uk.bm.com
