Living with Severe Headaches: Symptoms, Triggers, and Unmet Needs

ISR reports living with SEVERE HEADACHES symptoms, triggers & unmet need People who suffer from chronic headaches, cluster headaches, or migraines know how much of an impact the symptoms can have on their lives. But these headache disorders also have a huge impact on the economy. This infographic explores symptoms, triggers, and unmet needs of headache disorders. One in four American families contains someone with migraine HEADACHE DISORDERS • Migraine often begins at puberty and most affects those aged between 35 and 45 years. • Migraine is caused by a mechanism migraine in the brain that causes the release of pain-producing inflammatory substances around the nerves and blood vessels of the head. Migraine is recurrent, often life-long. Tension • Most common primary headache disorder -type headache (TTH) • Chronic TTH affects 1-3% of adults. • Often begins during the teenage years. • May be stress-related or associated with musculoskeletal problems. • Episodic TTH can last for a few hours up to several days • Described as pressure or tightness, like a band around the head, sometimes spreads to or from the neck • CH is relatively uncommon affecting fewer than 1 in 1000 adults • Affects six men to each woman. • Most people developing CH are in Cluster Headache (CH) their 20s or older. • Characterized by frequent recurring, brief but extremely severe headache associated with pain around the eye with tearing and redness, the nose runs or is blocked on the affected side and the eyelid may droop. 47% of the adult population have headache at least once within last year in general What makes treating severe headaches so complicated is the myriad of triggers that can bring on a severe headache. Hormonal changes/ patterns Bright lights Changes in wake-sleep pattern Barometric pressure/ weather changes triggers Emotional stress Physical stress Food allergies Medications Odors Loud sounds Alcohol Sensitivity to odors Irritability symptoms Blurred vision General muscle aching Sensitivity to noise Disturbed concentration Dizziness Loss of appetite Sensitivity to light Fever Paleness Nausea Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep Chronic fatigue Sensations of being very warm or cold AURA Aura includes: • Seeing flashing lights, zigzag lines, or blind spots • Numbness or tingling in the face or hands • Disturbed sense of smell, taste, or touch • Feeling mentally "fuzzy" IMPACT Headaches have a significant impact on the economy in addition to the individual. %24 $ $31 BILLION annual direct and indirect economic costs of headache disorders in the U.S. 25 MILLION 17 working or school days are lost every year due to migraines alone in the U.K. 66 These migraines make it extremely hard to enjoy my family and friends. They cause me to miss special moments with my family." - ISR Respondent NEED ONLY 9% of patients are "completely satisfied" with treatments The top four unmet needs: 1) Pain management 2) Impact on quality of life 3) Prevention of headaches 4) More effective medications Learn more about unmet needs and what patients want the pharmaceutical industry to know in ISR's "Headaches: Current Treatments and Unmet Needs" www.ISRReports.com Sources: ISR Reports, World Health Organization, American Headache Society, womenshealth.gov, allianceforheadacheadvocacy.og, migraineresearchfoundation.org ISR reports [email protected] @ISRREPORTS ISRREPORTS.COM