Kiwi scientists tackle migraines head-on

  • Breaking
  • 10/04/2015

Kiwi scientists could help solve one world's most common health headaches: the migraine.

The University of Auckland team believes it has identified another way the neurological disorder works, and that could lead to the development of more-effective pain relief.

For many prone to migraines, loss of vision comes first, then the searing pain.

"With the distortion of my vision I can't drive, I need to be bedridden basically until it goes away," says migraine sufferer Charlotte Hutton.

Ms Hutton is one of the one in five women who suffer from migraines - one in 10 men do too. The phenomenon is linked to a pain-causing hormone called CGRP, found in all of us but is higher in sufferers.

In recent years, research has focused on drugs that block the CGRP hormone from coming into contact with its receptor in the nerve, but clinical trials haven't been that effective.

Now, Dr Debbie Hay and her team think they know why.

"We've discovered a second receptor, a second target for CGRP which might solve this puzzle," says Dr Hay.

It's called AMY1, and its existence has been known about but never before linked to migraine-sensing tissues. Researchers say to stop the pain, both receptors may need blocking.

"It could change the approach to migraine treatment over the coming decade… it could be huge but other people need to pick it up, they need to look at it and see whether we're really onto something," says Dr Hay.

The scientists are confident. Using donated human brain tissue, they've established that AMY1 receptors are present at the migraine sites.

But they need the pharmaceutical industry to inject the funding to develop it commercially, so people like Ms Hutton can get the benefit.

For Dr Hay and her team, the finding isn't just important for the treatment of migraine pain; the AMY1 receptor could be involved in a whole range of painful conditions, from arthritis through to cancer.

For the scientists involved in the work, the research is just the beginning.

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source: newshub archive