Hello, and welcome to HealthiNation I’m Dr. Keri Peterson. For most of us, headache pain is just a part of life, easily cured with an aspirin or simple pain reliever. But for those people who suffer from migraine attacks, the pain can be so intense they may feel sick. They may even need to stop everything they’re doing. Here in the U.S., 35 million people suffer from migraine headaches, with women three times more likely to suffer than men. PHYSICIA igraines are severe headaches, and may cause more than just pain in your head. Migraines can also include nausea, changes in vision and a sensitivity to light and sound. And, while it’s not fully understood what causes migraines, researchers are learning more and more about what happens inside the body when these headaches occur. So, let’s go inside the body to see what’s going on during a migraine. It’s believed the pain is triggered after a drop in the level of a chemical in the brain called serotonin. The drop in serotonin causes the nervous system to release other chemicals, called neuropeptides, which then travel to the outer covering of the brain. These chemicals react with the blood vessels, causing them to dilate, or open wide. The widening of these blood vessels may create the pain associated with migraines. This may explain why many patients say they feel a throbbing pain. And, many times, migraine pain is only felt on one side of the brain. Migraines can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The most common type of migraine is called “Migraine without Aura.” For many people, these attacks have warning signs. They include nausea, vomiting, irritability, sensitivity to light, sound and motion and even low blood pressure. These symptoms begin as little as a few hours before an attack or as long as 1 to 2 days before the attack. Other people may experience additional symptoms called auras. Auras cause changes in sight and often come in the form of pulsating light, blind spots, or blurred vision. Auras may also cause a prickly feeling on the skin, weakness or even hallucinations. They usually start 5 minutes to an hour before a migraine and may linger through and even after the attack. These types of migraines are called “Migraine with Aura” and they are rare. Less than 20% of attacks are migraine with aura. While understanding and recognizing these warning signs can help you quickly treat a migraine and lesson its impact, not all migraines have warning signs. Migraines don’t just affect adults. In fact, people who suffer from migraines usually develop the condition during childhood or adolescence. Those with a family history of migraines are more likely to develop them and women are three times as likely as men to suffer.