Hand-held device may relieve migraine pain

A hand-held device delivering a magnetic pulse to the back of the head is more effective than sham stimulation for the treatment of migraine with aura, a US study suggests. The study of over 200 people with migraine found that more people in the single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) group were pain free 2 hours after treatment compared to the sham group. Writing in the Lancet Neurology, Doctor Richard Lipton from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA and colleagues explained that the device applies a brief magnetic pulse to the scalp and underlying cortex, changing the pattern of neuronal firing. Evidence suggests that sTMS might disrupt the cortical depression spreading wave that is the presumed substrate of migraine with aura, they said. The patients who were randomly assigned to sham stimulation (99) or sTMS (102) were instructed to treat up to three attacks over 3 months while experiencing aura, and to record pain and associated symptoms before and at regular intervals after treatment. Of the 164 patients who treated at least one attack, 39% in the sTMS group were pain free 2 hours after treatment compared with 22% in the sham group. No major differences were observed between the groups in the severity of photophobia, phonophobia and nausea at 2 hours....