Impact of migraine

Without effective treatment, migraine can have a devastating impact on quality of life, affecting mental health, relationships and jobs

Headache affects almost everyone at some point, but around 14 per cent of the population suffer migraine, a condition that can, at its worst, severely reduce quality of life and cause chronic, disabling pain. More people suffer migraine than those living asthma, diabetes and epilepsy combined 1.

Migraine accounts for 89 per cent of headaches experienced worldwide2 and affects three times as many women as men3. Around two per cent of people with migraine require medical intervention. Without effective treatment, migraine can undermine mental health, relationships and employment.

Migraine is the most common neurological condition in the developed world. The World Health Organization ranks migraine as the second-highest cause of disability in the world, following lower back pain4.

Yet despite the acute harm migraine causes to the individual and to wider society, it remains misunderstood and often misdiagnosed, too often dismissed as ‘just a bad headache’.

Migraine is a genetic neurological brain disorder and, alongside agonising pain, will often cause nausea, vomiting and oversensitivity to light, noise, movement and smell.

Those affected by chronic migraine endure severe and disabling symptoms on 15 or more days a month.

Take control of migraine

Book an appointment with the experts: review the best treatment options for you with a leading headache specialist. Beat the misery of migraine and get back to living. Book your consultation through the National Migraine Centre now.

 

1 Teixido, M & Carey, J, Migraine – More Than a Headache, 2014
2 Global Burden of Disease, 2016
3 Munro, K, Managing Your Migraine, Penguin, 2021
4 Global Burden of Disease, 2016

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