ABSTRACT
Migraine headache is an old, old problem, with mention of them going back about 5000 years. Descriptions of migraine go back to Sumeria, around 3000 bc, as well as to Mesopotamia ,Hippocrates, in 400 bc, described the visual aura. A bilateral throbbing headache could not be a migraine. Only a unilateral throbbing headache was a migraine. Common migraine is now called “migraine without aura”. Classical migraine is called “migraine with aura”. Retinal migraine appears to be secondary to retinal ischemia from prolonged central retinal artery constriction, which is, in fact, an aura preceding a migraine headache. Dysphrenic migraine or associated disturbances of cognitive function may occur in migraineurs during a migraine attack. Migraine is known to be triggered by environmental, psychological, neurochemical, and neuroendocrine changes. Migraine appears to be a hereditary perturbation of serotonergic neurotransmission. Pharmacological treatment of migraine is of two types — abortive and prophylactic.
