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Wearing a nerve stimulator for 20 minutes a day may
be a new option for migraine sufferers, according to
new research published in the February 6, 2013,
online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of
the American Academy of Neurology.
The stimulator is placed on the forehead, and it
delivers electrical stimulation to the supraorbital
nerve. For the small study, 67 people who had an
average of four migraine attacks per month were
followed for one month with no treatment. Then they
received either the stimulation 20 minutes a day for
three months or sham stimulation, where they wore
the device but the stimulation given was at levels
too low to have any effect.
Those who received the stimulation had fewer days
with migraine in the third month of treatment
compared to the first month with no treatment. The
number of days with migraine decreased from 6.9 days
to 4.8 days per month. The number did not change for
those who received the sham treatment.
No adverse events or side effects were reported
during the trial.
The study also looked at the number of people who
had 50 percent or higher reduction in the number of
days with migraine in a month. That number was 38
percent for those who had the stimulation compared
to 12 percent of those who received the sham
treatment.
The study authors conclude: "Supraorbital
transcutaneous stimulation with the device used in
this trial is effective and safe as a preventive
therapy for migraine. The therapeutic gain (26%) is
within the range of those reported for other
preventive drug and nondrug antimigraine treatments."
“These results are exciting, because the results
were similar to those of drugs that are used to
prevent migraine, but often those drugs have many
side effects for people, and frequently the side
effects are bad enough that people decide to quit
taking the drug,” said study author Jean Schoenen,
MD, PhD, of Liège University in Belgium and a member
of the American Academy of Neurology. The study was
supported by the Walloon Region, Department of
Economy, Employment and Research in Belgium.
Dr Andrew Dowson, Chairman of Migraine Action's
Medical Advisory Board, commented that although the
device is unlikely to harm, there is not yet much
evidence on its use and effectiveness.
Fot more information
Migraine prevention with a supraorbital
transcutaneous stimulator
(MDN)
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