– It feels as if a knife is stuck behind the eye, and you have such a headache that you vomit. This is how it feels to Cathrine Stadsvik (51) to have a migraine. The first attacks came seven years ago. In the beginning it only happened three or four times a year and it hadn’t yet gotten to the point where half her month would be lost to the migraine and the pain that came with it. In a house with large windows, the solution was closed curtains, caps and sunglasses indoors. Still, the uncertainty was there. Because Cathrine didn’t know it was a migraine she had had. After holding the job title of hotel director for 18 years, now at Comfort Hotel Park, she chose to give herself a new challenge. Subject for migraine research. – Very vulnerable to little sleep She was one of 84 subjects who recently took part in the Migraine physiology project (MIGFYS). A research project where in 2020 they wanted to take a closer look at the connection between migraines and sleep. The MIGFYS project recently published its fifth study, which resulted in three important findings. Photo: Morten Waagø / news Researcher on the project, Martin Syvertsen Mykland, believes that similar investigations have never been carried out before. A project that wanted to find answers to whether sleep affects migraines, what can be the causes of migraines and whether it really matters what time of day you usually have an attack. Severely reduced brain capacity with less sleep If people with migraine slept less than the current recommendation of seven to nine hours, then the brain functioned much worse after the migraine attack ended. It actually worked as poorly as if a healthy person were to sleep 24 hours a day, i.e. no sleep at all. – Now we have managed to show that if people with migraine sleep a little less during an attack, they have a reduced brain function soon after the attack, says Mykland. New mechanisms that can cause migraine What it is that leads up to an attack, and what causes it, is not an easy nut to crack either. During the study, they managed to uncover new mechanisms in the brain, which lead to the start of a seizure. What causes migraines is one of the many puzzle pieces missing to solve the migraine puzzle. Photo: Morten Waagø / news The brain has mechanisms that function as a brake. It has the task of preventing nerve cells from sending signals, but thus changes before the migraine attack starts. – This may be due to the stress and sleep center deep in the brain losing control. These may be mechanisms that cause the migraine. That stress has an effect is something Cathrine can confirm with a resounding laugh. In addition, sleep and food are the biggest triggers for a migraine attack for her. Difference between seizures when you are asleep and when you are awake A third and final important finding, according to Mykland, is the state you are in when the seizure occurs. – If you usually get attacks during sleep or at night, it may indicate that you have different mechanisms that give you your migraines, than if you don’t usually get migraines when you sleep. Stadsvik was thrilled when she got to be a participant in the research project, and called herself a lab rat. Photo: PRIVAT Until now, there has been no distinction between whether you have a seizure during sleep or when you are awake, but now the researchers believe that this may be important to think about in the future when making a diagnosis or selecting treatment. – Considerable amount of suffering The study recently had its results published in the journal Cephalalgia. – The importance of sleep has not been as well investigated before as has been done here by the researchers. This is the opinion of Lars Edvinsson, professor and senior physician at Lund University in Sweden. The work has impressed the Swede, who constantly tells how important sleep is for his patients, and a technology-free bedroom. Researcher Mykland says that people have expressed that the results have given them more clarity and knowledge about migraines. Photo: Morten Waagø / news Mykland says that they will now discuss what advice they will now give the patients as a result of the new findings. – First we look at whether we should perhaps put even more emphasis on trying to maintain as much normal sleep as possible. Maybe even more sleep than usual, so that you can function better after a seizure. 15 percent of all adults in the world have migraines. For people under the age of 50, migraine is at the top of the list of diseases that cause the most reduced function. – This applies to all diseases of the whole body, not just nervous diseases. Mykland also emphasizes the great strain the disease causes. – Migraine causes considerable suffering, pain and other symptoms. It is important to convey the burden it has on each individual and on society. – Why is this important information to share with society? – I think there are many myths and perceptions about migraines. There are many people who have a severe form of migraine that causes a significantly reduced function. After Cathrine got a migraine, it opened up a new topic of conversation during the coffee break at work. There are several people at work who have the same diagnosis. Photo: Morten Waagø / news Mykland believes that the migraine for some becomes so severe that it causes a loss for society in the form of reduced work capacity, illness that holds them back from work and activities. – But then they won’t be believed. This is something that can again cause an increased burden if there is no understanding or facilitation around this. – It can’t be that bad to have it – It was really the worst at the beginning, when you didn’t quite know what it was. I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. Cathrine could not come to terms with the fact that some days were just like that, and that this was something she now had to get through. “Pull yourself together, it can’t hurt so much. Take some headache tablets, wait a bit and then this will surely pass.” – But it doesn’t. After she joined the study, the pieces fell into place. The study not only resulted in three important findings for migraine, but that Cathrine received a diagnosis. With the medicine in his bag, the hotel director is always ready to fight should the migraine creep up. Photo: Morten Waagø / news Although she does not get rid of the migraines, the quality of life from medication and the knowledge of what triggers have turned her life around for the better. – The medicine takes away the worst of the pain, so that I am able to be an employer, mother and colleague.
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Reduces brain capacity if you sleep less – news Trøndelag
