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Magnetic Stimulation Therapy: A New Alternative To Non-Drug Treatment of Migraine

A new research done by the UCFS investigating the method of an upcoming and promising therapy using magnetic pulses to treat chronic migraine has proven to be a great alternative for medication. This new therapy is known as the Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

This method was earlier used in a study at the OSU (Ohio State University) in which it was used to cure and diagnose individuals suffering from a migraine condition called aura, a condition in which a patient suffers from different visual sensations, and this stimulation technique was found to be far better than some of its preceding techniques used for curing migraine.

In the recent study, UCSF scientists used this technique on rats to understand the mechanism how TMS actually interacts with the brain that lead to the removal of pain due to migraine. The team concluded that the times of stimulus as well as the intensity of stimulus are the most important factors towards the brain’s response to the treatment technique.

“The statistics thus demonstrated a biological justification for making use of the TMS technique to treat migraine,” said Mr. Goadsby, the lead researcher of this particular research. He added that the cortical spreading depression (CSD) and the animal correlate migraine were found to be susceptible to this promising therapy. The research conclusions explained the fact that the aura due to migraine reacts to the magnetic stimulus of the therapy due to the fact that the TMS obstructs the neuronal excitement waves, a biological method by which the nerve cells get stimulated because of fire. TMS therapy generates a fixed magnetic pulse that invades through the brain, there by inducing an electric current that disrupts the unusual waves from the brain allegedly related with migraine.

American Academy of Neurological has estimated that more than thirty millions of people in American are suffering from migraine, a syndrome categorized by persistent, frequently unbearable headaches. It is estimated that due to migraine around one hundred and fifty seven million workdays are lost thus leading to losses around thirteen billion. Despite the fact that additional study is needed, the scientists added that these results give the neurosurgeons an opportunity of a great new treatment option available for people suffering from migraine and for those who are not able to bear the side effects due to migraine’s medication such as intolerable stomach bleeding.