Most migraines (very intense headaches) start when a person is young and sometimes many family members suffer with them. Most suffers will go to bed as the headache (usually on one side) takes hold and which could last a matter of a few hours but if left without attention, could last for days. Once the attack is over, the victim will still feel exhausted and not able to do much for some time.

Some sufferers only experience only one attack per year whereas for someone who is liable to frequent attacks, this in the range of one or two every month. Certain symptoms are common for many sufferers including a problem with bright lights, sometimes even dull light, in addition to flu like chills and lightheadedness. Migraine is most prevalent in people between the ages of ten to forty years old; almost no cases are recorded after the age of 50.

Hereditary links are often associated with migraine and occurrences may happen among members of a family; even though there may be a link, so far it has eluded medical science. It is pressure from inflamed blood vessels that places pressure on the nerves near the brain that actually causes the awful pain. With this condition, women do not fare as well as men with a ratio of 3 to 1 suffering from the condition regularly; only one in twelve men will experience an attack in their lives.

A number of people have a warning when they are about to have an attack which is called migraine with aura which can be anywhere between ten minutes to half an hour before the actual attack. The warning signs may include:

*Sickness *Vision is affected *Loss in the sensation of taste *Problems speaking

whilst there are many more symptoms, the list above contains those which are most prevalent. Some of these indications are symptoms felt by those who have the most common variant of the condition, migraines without aura; many early indications felt by those who have a warning are symptoms felt by those who have no warning but their condition can be made worse if they are in constant motion.

The exact reason for having migraine is not clear and yet to be discovered but one assumption is that the blood vessels in areas of the brain become narrower which may be the explanation for the aura. This narrowing of vessels then leads to an expansion and this pressure change may be the reason for the headache; whatever the cause, sufferers all agree that an attack stops them from doing anything in their daily lives until it has receded. A sufferer could have one or more triggers to each attack; the most common complaints are highlighted below:

*Poor weather conditions *Certain food groups *Altitude *Certain groups of drink *Powerful bright lighting *Not enough food *Anxiety

It is therefore a good idea for the victim to see if there is a pattern to the attacks which could then make it easier to avoid them.