A BBC expert has spoken about the ‘warnings’ that migraines are set to hit even days before – in a broadcast which had viewers asking the same question. Appearing on BBC Morning Live, Dr Kieran Rohan said that about 10 million people in the UK suffer debilitating attacks.
He explained they could be so severe that people are unable to go to work with an estimated three million absences a year in the UK. Host Michelle Ackerly said: “Someone who could earn hero status this morning and help the one in seven of us who live with migraines is Doctor Kieran. I mean, I know myself. They can be so debilitating, and often you can feel like they’re not really taking that seriously. “
Dr Kieran replied: “You’re absolutely right. And you mentioned one in seven there. So that’s 10 million people in the UK that have migraines and to give you an idea of the impact, there’s 3 million absences from work each year due to migraines, so that really shows you the impact that it can have now.”
He explained that migraines are caused by neurogenic inflammation in first division trigeminal sensory neurons. But he said: “We don’t really understand what causes this is what it means, but we do know it’s a complex process involving the blood vessels, the chemicals and the nerves in the brain.
“Now there’s a common misconception, like you said, that migraines are just a bad headache. But actually there’s so much more than that they can present with a number of other symptoms. Neurological symptoms changes to your vision, weakness, speech problems.
“And, you know they have such a big impact on people’s lives. Now we know you’re at risk of developing migraines if you’re between the ages of 25 and 55 if you have a family history of migraines. So it’s thought that it runs in families and there’s a genetic aspect and also if you’re female, so females are actually 2 to 3 times more likely to have migraines than males. And there’s a genetic or there’s a hormonal aspect rather to this as well. So we know that the time of the period where there’s some hormonal changes can actually be a trigger for a migraine.”
He explined the stages which people have when they start to head towards getting a migraine. “It’s like stages, isn’t it? There’s stages to a migraine that’s absolutely right, And it’s useful to to think about those stages because it then tells you about the different symptoms that you can actually get in a migraine.
“So there’s four stages of a migraine. The first stage is called a prodrome, so that can be anything from hours to days before the migraine starts. You’re not feeling yourself feeling tired might be yawning more often, and that leads into the second stage that we call the aura So this is the warning that the migraine is about to happen can happen anything between five minutes to 60 minutes.”
However viewers were put out that he didn’t talk about what had triggered their migraines – saying Covid was the reason. One said on X: Never had headaches or migraine before covid struck. Now have at least four a week severe enough to put me in bed, lights off, noise off, can’t move. Why aren’t doctors talking about this?“ Another added: “#Covid hit me in October ‘21. The headaches were unbearable. I couldn’t move my head without pain or stand up without nearly blacking out. #LongCovid #LongCovidKids report that headaches is one of the most common symptoms. Will Dr Kiran mention Covid I wonder..?”
