Hyderabad: Stress precipitating factor for migraine

HYDERABAD: While many people silently suffer with headaches without knowing that they may be suffering from a neurological disorder called migraine, roughly 10% of the city’s population is estimated to have migraine and the incidence is on the rise.
“There is an increase in trend when it comes to headaches and migraine, moreover, since the level of stress has increased.Even studies show that 80% of patients report stress as a precipitating factor for their migraine headaches. With today’s lifestyle where people are juggling with work-life balance, stress levels keep fluctuating. Just as stress and triggers increase or decrease, accordingly so does migraine,” said Dr Subhash Kaul, Head of Department of Neurology at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), .
Given the lack of awareness around the disorder, there is a delay in starting treatment. “About 30% of patients come in late for their diagnosis. Owing to overlapping symptoms, people link these headaches with other possible diagnosis and visit ophthalmologists, dentists, or ENT specialists, which leads to delay in diagnosis as well as under-diagnosis,” said Dr Sudhir Kumar, senior consultant neurologist at Apollo Institute of Neurosciences.
Misdiagnosis is common with 5% patients misdiagnosed as having cervical spondylitis or brain infection.