Most of us are no stranger to headaches. Migraines, a more severe form of headache, affect around 2.7 million Canadians. Our Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Joshua Lai unpacks scientific knowledge about common forms of headache, and discusses interventions that could help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
Q: As a migraine sufferer, I know that a migraine isn’t just a bad headache. For non-sufferers, what are the key differences between the two?
A: Some key features that most strongly distinguish a migraine from other forms of headache include nausea, light sensitivity (photophobia) and disability.
A simple three-question migraine screener has been developed by neurologists1 to allow patients to quickly identify if they have a migraine.
Over the last the last three months:
