Association between Gastrointestinal Functional Disorders and Migraine Headache: A Therapeutic Link
Dear Editor: As a neurologist with interest in pain control,1-2 I read the recent contribution by Lankarani and colleagues,3 on the relationship between gastrointestinal functional disorders and migraine, with great interest. I have the following comments concerning the therapeutic relationship bet...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Iranian Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Middle East Journal of Digestive Diseases |
| Online Access: | http://www.mejdd.org/index.php/mejdd/article/view/1900 |
| Summary: | Dear Editor:
As a neurologist with interest in pain control,1-2 I read the recent contribution by Lankarani and colleagues,3 on the relationship between gastrointestinal functional disorders and migraine, with great interest. I have the following comments concerning the therapeutic relationship between the said entities as follows. Although the respected authors did mention certain aspects of the therapeutic relationship between the two conditions, they did not sufficiently emphasize that connection. As pointed out in my recent article,2 patients suffering from migralepsy (migraine related epilepsy) were simultaneously relieved from both conditions if the headache were fully controlled (using daily scheduled opioids). Similarly, many of such patients with chronic daily headaches voluntarily stated that their gastrointestinal symptoms, of which they had suffered for years, had completely receded with the use of the abovementioned regimen. However, if the headache returned for any reason (most often because of running out of daily scheduled medication) the other condition (i.e. seizures or the gastrointestinal symptoms) returned as well. These comorbidities, therefore, speak of an identical or shared pathophysiology in these common conditions. |
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| ISSN: | 2008-5230 2008-5249 |