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mme_hardyAll the migraine preventative, as opposed to migraine treatment, drugs on the market are treatments for something else that happened, coincidentally, to help prevent migraines. I've tried most, maybe all of them: anti-epileptics, anti-blood pressure, anti-Alzheimers, anti-neuropathic pain, even an antihistamine, and of course Botox. Some of them do some good -- Lyrica, which I hate, is a lifesaver -- but none of them is directly targeted to the chemical/electrical changes that we now know to be migraine.
That may be about to change. There are two -- two! -- drugs in late-stage human trials that seem to significantly lower patients' migraines per month.
That may be about to change. There are two -- two! -- drugs in late-stage human trials that seem to significantly lower patients' migraines per month.
About 50% of people on one study halved the number of migraines they had each month, which researchers at King's College Hospital called a "huge deal".
The treatment is the first specifically designed for preventing migraine and uses antibodies to alter the activity of chemicals in the brain.
...
Research has shown a chemical in the brain - calcitonin gene-related peptide or CGRP - is involved in both pain and sensitivity to sound and light in migraine.
Four drug companies are racing to develop antibodies that neutralise CGRP. Some work by sticking to CGRP, while others block the part of a brain cell with which it interacts.
Clinical trials on two of the antibodies have now been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
One antibody, erenumab made by Novartis, was trialled on 955 patients with episodic migraine.
At the start of the trial the patients had migraines on an average of eight days a month.
The study found 50% of those given the antibody injections halved their number of migraine days per month. About 27% did have a similar effect without treatment, which reflects the natural ebb and flow of the disease.
Another antibody, fremanezumab made by Teva pharmaceuticals, was trialled on 1,130 patients with chronic migraine.
About 41% of patients halved their number of migraine days compared with 18% without treatment.
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Date: 2017-11-30 07:25 pm (UTC)That is a huge deal! Fingers crossed for you.
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Date: 2017-12-01 10:23 am (UTC)Nine