Cindy McCain Declares War on Migraines

Stress-induced headaches leave her unable to 'function at all': sources

(NEWSER) - An odd issue regarding Michele Bachmann has come to the surface, causing some to question her ability to serve as president of the US: severe headaches. Bachmann suffers from migraines, three sources tell the Daily Caller , and the stress-induced episodes are fairly frequent and quite debilitating. One former adviser says they leave her "incapacitated," unable to "function at all," and "out of commission for a day or more at a time." (Bachmann herself has blamed the headaches on uncomfortable shoes; her spokesperson says the migraines are "under control with medicine.") More»

Findings reverse idea that headaches cause depression

(NEWSER) - Conventional wisdom holds that bad headaches lead to bad moods, but a new study points to a genetic link between the two. "Most people think that migraine patients are depressed because they have headaches," one researcher tells Time . "We found that there is a genetic predisposition by people with migraines to be depressed." More»

Plastic surgery may not help majority of migraine sufferers

(NEWSER) - The New York Times weighs in today on the recent study that showed plastic surgery to be effective in curing, or at least cutting the frequency of, migraine headaches. Headache specialists are intrigued but concerned that even if they're not good candidates, patients will rush to have the forehead lifts, which are thought to relieve pressure on nerves that trigger migraines. The procedure is appropriate only for those whose points of irritation have been identified and have responded to Botox treatments. More»

(NEWSER) - A novel plastic-surgery procedure on the forehead could cure migraines entirely, Time reports. The surgery removes certain muscles—or “migraine triggers”—around the trigeminal nerve branches, which some think are the source of the painful headaches; it also smoothes wrinkles. In a recent study, more than half of 49 migraine sufferers reported no symptoms after the surgery, and 83% said the frequency of attacks has declined by half. More»

(NEWSER) - Finally, some good news for migraine sufferers: Those awful headaches come with a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a new study. The researchers aren’t sure why that would be the case, but they suspect a connection with estrogen and other hormones. “It’s pretty clear that migraine, like breast cancer, is a hormonally related disease,” said one. “Many triggers for migraine are also things that reduce estrogen levels.” More»