CAIRO: Fatma El Labban had to take her daughter Yomna to a private lesson. It was shortly before Yomna's Thanaweya Amma finals and private lessons were vital to her passing. El Labban was alone in Cairo since her husband was out of town on work. As she was leaving, she had a disabling pain on one side of her head and couldn't move her body. Someone else had to take her daughter to the private lesson. "I couldn't find anyone to take my daughter to her lesson and the pain wasblinding, says El Labban, a housewife. Finally I called my cousin and asked her to take my daughter. It is one of those situations I will never forget. El Labban is one of the many people who suffer from migraines, the painfulbut common type of headaches. Contrary to the common use of the word, amigraine is not just a strong headache. "A migraine is a specific diagnosis, not a catchall term to describe any badheadache, wrote resident nurse Patricia Carroll, in her book "What Nurses Know and Doctors Don't Have Time to Tell You. It is a pounding or throbbing on one side of the head along with a feeling of nausea or vomiting, the book explains. I usually feel a buzz before the migraine begins, says El Labban, "and itmay increase to nausea and even vomiting. In order to control the migraine before it gets out of hand she takes a painkiller as soon as the buzzing starts. Over the counter painkillers, however, are ineffective in this case. According to El Labban, a subscription medicine or even a shot are the only things strong enough to deal with the migraine. Usually El Labban sleeps off the pain. The only thing that she can do when amigraine hits her, she explains, is go into bed, turn off all the lights andseal the windows shut to keep out any noise. "A migraine makes you want to crawl into a very dark, quiet place because light and noise make the pain even worse, says Carroll. El Labban says the migraines began when she hit puberty and have continued to attack her throughout the past 40 years. One of the major issues is finding the appropriate physician. Dr. Amr Maher, cardiologist, says one can go to a cardiologist or a neurologist if they feel they have a migraine, although each case is different. One must see a doctor in order to be diagnosed with a migraine because what a person thinks is a migraine may not be one, he adds. El Labban says one of the many physicians she has been to told her thatmigraines are usually genetic and the tendency to attack increases with aperson s genetic history. All the women on her mother's side have migraines,she explains, and it something they have to live with. After all these years,she continues, you just learn when to control the pain before it gets out ofhand. "About one person in a hundred will have at least one migraine headache, notes Carroll. "Three out of four people with true migraines are women. Studies show that migraines have a "greater impact on the lives of thefemale patients. According to the National Women s Health Resource Center, "[It affects] their self-esteem, professional development and family and social life. "People who get migraine headaches, then, appear to have specialsensitivities to various triggers, such as bright lights, odors, stress, weather changes or certain foods and beverages, reads one of the center s publications. El Labban says a lot of times she would get the migraine if she is under stress and sleep deprived. But many times, she adds, the pain starts with no trigger. The causes of migraines are somewhat unknown, according to Dr. Maher. He says it can be caused by tension, menses or pregnancy. The mechanism of the migraine, he adds, is known but the cause is still somewhat vague. "Migraines occur when there is constriction of the blood vessels in the brain. Carroll s book further explains the process. Noting an ongoing debate aboutwhat triggers migraines, she says they "are related to changes in the bloodflow to the brain; either too much or too little blood flows in response tocertain triggers that can range from foods to weather changes and evenflickering lights. Scientists now believe that "the migraine is caused by inherited abnormalitiesin certain cells in the brain, according to the Resource Center. "Migrainescan strike as often as several times a week, or as rarely as once every fewyears. Some women experience migraines at predictable times, near the timethat menstruation begins or every Saturday morning after a stressful workweek.
