A migraine drug could also relieve us of its early symptoms
A clinical trial has shown that a drug, ubrogepant, can reduce symptoms that can signal migraine headaches, such as sensitivity to light and difficulty concentrating. This is a first.
Migraine sufferers know it well: migraines aren't just severe headaches. In a clinical trial, ubrogepant—a molecule already known to relieve this type of headache—has recently proven effective in reducing early symptoms such as sensitivity to light or noise, stiff neck, difficulty concentrating (also known as brain fog), and intense fatigue.
This makes it the first drug known to act on the very first symptoms of the so-called prodromal phase.
The results suggest that ubrogepant could “ free patients from the disabling aspect of migraine , ” Peter Goadsby, a neuroscientist at King's College London and co-author of the study, told Nature .
Published on May 12 in Nature Medicine , it involved 438 people aged 18 to 75 who had experienced migraine episodes during their lives. It compared ubrogepant to a placebo for 60 days and demonstrated that for some of the patients the real drug helped reduce “non-painful” symptoms even before the pain started.
"The study did not explore the drug's effects on aura, another symptom that can signal migraines and involve sensory or visual disturbances such as flashing lights or black spots," notes the British weekly New Scientist. Gregory Dussor, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas and migraine specialist who was not involved in the work, said the improvements brought about by the drug are promising, although relatively "modest ," he told Nature.
He believes that once the prodrome has started, it is certainly too late for ubrogepant to completely stop migraines. He believes that research should focus on another question:
“Is there a way to alert patients earlier so they can take the treatment even before they feel any symptoms [however early]?”
Further work is expected to confirm the promising effects of this type of treatment and go even further. “We look forward to seeing further research in this area to help reduce the impact of migraine – a condition that affects one in seven people,” Rob Music, who heads The Migraine Trust in the UK and was not involved in the recent study, told New Scientist .
