A migraine is a complaint that is quite often suffered by other family members, all of which have probably been experiencing them from a young age. Normally lasting for a couple of hours or more when medication is administered, most are normally felt just on one side of the head but can affect someone for many days if they haven't taken anything to ease the pain. Once the episode has finished, the victim will still require rest as they will probably feel very tired.

One thing that is still unknown is why some people have much more frequent attacks than others. Some symptoms seem to be consistent with most victims; those of a feeling like those associated with cold or influenza and a problem with bright lights. 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.

Members of the same family are often cursed with migraine and there is believed to be a hereditary link; if there is a genetic reason for the attacks, medical science has not yet found this link. It is believed that victims have a certain susceptibility in their brains that allows the blood vessels and nerves to become inflamed. With this condition, women do not fare as well as men with a ratio of 3 to 1 suffering from the condition regularly; one in every 4 women will be a victim of it, whilst only 1 in 12 men will suffer with it at some point in their life.

Another symptom that is not consistent is those people that know when they are going to have an attack anything up to 30 minutes before it happens; this sensation is called migraine with aura owing to the type of feeling they experience. There are many warning indicators of the attack:

*Feeling of sickness *Enlarged blind spots *Sense of smell and taste is affected *Difficulty with verbal skills
whilst there are many more symptoms, the list above contains those which are most prevalent. Migraine sufferers who do not have any warning are said to have attack without aura but still suffer extreme pain; this progressively builds up to full excruciating intensity which is aggravated by continuous motion, light or noise often causing nausea and vomiting.

It is believed that conditions that cause the blood vessels in the brain to contract could be an explanation for migraine but this still hasn't been proved so the search for cause continues. This narrowing of vessels then leads to an expansion and this pressure change may be the reason for the headache; most victims become unable to do anything for some time after the attack. There are many factors that can trigger an attack ranging from:

*Poor weather conditions *Food belonging to certain groups *Height *Particular drinks *Strong bright lights *Not enough food *Stress

Monitoring and recording the triggers in a diary can help avoid future attacks so it is something that all sufferers must learn to carry out.