Health professionals at a seminar on 'prevention and management of migraine' have underscored the need for enhancing migraine awareness in the general public, as the disease is often misjudged as a simple headache.
Jinnah Hospital Lahore Professor of Medicines Dr Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, while addressing a select gathering of medical professionals including psychiatrists, family physicians, here on Saturday, emphasised on the fact that migraine was not just a headache; it is a problem that might disable a person from carrying out day-to-day activities.
He further elaborated that migraine was one of the commonest neurological disorders, affecting over 12 per cent of the general population.
Although not of serious consequences, a migraine is associated with a lot of morbidity, both in terms of suffering due to pain, as well as due to instability during work and study.
The seminar was organised by the Care Marketing (Pvt) Limited. On this occasion, the Care Marketing also launched a preventive medicine of migraine - Fytomiran.
Speaking on the occasion, Fatima Jinnah Medical College (FJMC) Department of Psychiatry Head Professor Dr Haroon Rashid Chaudhry said that according to research, migraine was encountered twice more commonly among females and mostly between the ages of 25-55 years. Studies indicated that migraine affected about six per cent of men and 15-18 per cent of women in the general population.
Overall lifetime prevalence rates are much higher ie 12 per cent in males and 24 per cent in females. He said that if correctly diagnosed, a migraine could be treated. He further emphasised that combating the disease required effective management in the form of prevention and moderation in everyday life.
By taking simple measures, the severity of a migraine can be reduced and majority of attacks avoided. These measures include: regimented diet without cheese and chocolates; regulation of the intake of tea and coffee at low levels; wearing dark glasses while travelling during the afternoons and drinking plenty of water; using ear plugs to curtail noise of traffic and restricting one's sleep cycle to a regular routine.
It may be mentioned that Care Marketing markets a strong portfolio of innovative and leading brands of prescription drugs for various diseases including migraine.
Other speakers including Amir Ikram, Dr Imtiaz Malik and Dr Amjad called for creating more awareness among the people suffering from migraine. They also said that management of migraine patients was necessary to enable them to lead a cheerful life.