Traditional Pharmacotherapy for Migraine and Headache

Dr. Brian Grosberg from the Montefiore Headache Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY moderated the topic "Traditional Pharmacotherapy for Migraine and Headache" with Drs. Allan Purdy from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Joel Saper from the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute, and Michigan State University, Ann Arbor, MI. The discussion focused primarily on: 1) Acute treatment options for migraine including both non specific and specific migraine therapies 2) first-line treatments for acute attacks of migraine 3) comorbidities and other factors that affect acute treatment options 4) additional factors that influence treatment decisions including the assessment of disability and migraine attack characteristics 5) the use of algorithms for disability assessment including MIDAS and HIT-6 6) factors that influence the failure of acute treatment options for migraines and the importance of tailoring treatments 7) factors that influence the recommendation for secondary acute treatments/rescue therapy 8) the importance of assessing a patient’s treatment regimen to ensure that there are no unmet needs 9) medication overuse headaches and how to avoid them 10) the currently available preventive treatment options for migraine including standard and complementary pharmacologic agent 11) improving patient adherence for preventive medications 12) patient considerations for using combination therapy. Med Roundtable Gen Med Ed. 2012;1(2):121–130.