If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  Headache Experts Agree On Excedrin Migraine for Migraine Pain ORLANDO, FL -- July 22, 1998 -- A panel of world-renowned headache experts convened by the Diamond Headache Clinic Research and Educational Foundation released their recommendations to physicians for the management of migraine pain, a condition affecting approximately 25 million Americans. The panel recommended the combination of acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine (approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration earlier this year as Excedrin(R) Migraine) as first-line therapy for the majority of patients who suffer from mild to moderate migraine pain. If this non-prescription therapy is unsuccessful, the panel advised that patients see their doctor to discuss treatment options with prescription medications, such as one of the drugs in the triptan class. Prescription medications should be considered first-line therapy for the majority of patients diagnosed with severe or incapacitating migraine, the panel added. When these therapies fail to provide relief, treatment with a rescue medication is recommended. The recommendations are designed to provide general practitioners step-by- step guidance on managing different levels of migraine pain, from mild to moderate to severe and incapacitating. In most cases, people suffering from headache turn to their family doctor for advice, rather than to a headache specialist. "These recommendations are important to physicians and to consumers who need guidance on the best way to manage migraine and how to use the ever-growing arsenal of treatments available," said Seymour Diamond, M.D., director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, recognised as the pre-eminent headache clinic in the country and the world. The recommendations also represent the first time a group of renowned headache experts has reached agreement on key issues related to the optimal management of migraine in the general practitioner setting. Joining Dr. Diamond on the expert panel were directors of some of the nation's most prestigious headache clinics. A detailed copy of the recommendations will be disseminated this fall to headache-treating physicians across the country in several ways. The recommendations will appear in a special supplement in an upcoming issue of Headache Quarterly and will be distributed by direct mail to 50,000 physicians who treat headache patients. "We believe these recommendations will provide the how, when and why for general practitioners who are seeking to optimise the management of migraine in their patients," Dr. Diamond said. The expert panel was convened as a satellite meeting during The Practicing Physician's Approach to the Difficult Headache Patient, which was sponsored by the Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation, the Diamond Headache Clinic Research and Educational Foundation and the Diamond Inpatient Headache Unit at Columbus Hospital, Chicago.
|
