Headache Triggers
Do you suffer from annoying migraines? These "headache triggers" could be affecting you
It appears scientists have found the gene that causes migraines, London’s Daily Telegraph reported.
The new discovery could allow scientists to finally create a “new generation of drugs,” which could lower the body’s ability to feel pain.
The gene, which is called TRESK, controls the sensitivity of pain nerves in the brain. If TRESK is faulty in someone, that person would have an extremely low pain threshold, and be unable to tolerate light, sounds and even touch when they develop headaches.
However, the gene could be altered to increase one’s pain threshold to “such an extent it eliminates the feeling of pain altogether,” the newspaper reported.
“We are really excited about this,” said Dr. Zameel Cader, a consultant neurologist at the Medical Research Council Functional Genomics Unit at the University of Oxford. “It’s a once in a generation find that could one day lead to treatments that could prevent migraines. Potentially, it is even more exciting than that.”
More than 30 million Americans suffer from migraines, and women are three times more likely than men to have them.
The study is published in Nature Medicine.
Click here to read more about this story in the Daily Telegraph.
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