Someone on the list was interested in information about migraines.
http://www.reutershealth.com/news/docs/199612/19961223cla.html
Intranasal Therapy Relieves Migraines
WESTPORT, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Intranasal administration of
dihydroergotamine appears to be "...an important new therapeutic
option for migraine sufferers."
Dr. R. Michael Gallagher and colleagues from the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Moorsetown, explain that
dihydroergotamine mesylate has long been used in the treatment of
migraine headaches as a parenterally administered therapy. In the
current study, they evaluated the efficacy of the drug
self-administered intranasally at either 2 mg or 3 mg per dose.
The New Jersey group reports that "...the 2-mg dose provided
slightly superior efficacy and was associated with fewer adverse
effects than the 3-mg dose." Specifically, 27% of the patients
given the 2-mg preparation reported resolution of the migraine
within 30 minutes of administration, and by 4 hours 70% of the
patients in the 2-mg treatment arm reported that headaches had
resolved. This is compared with only 1 in 4 patients on placebo
whose headaches responded to treatment within 4 hours.
"Patients treated with dihydroergotamine also experienced
significantly fewer headache recurrences during the 24-hour
period after treatment compared with patients using the placebo,"
according to Dr. Gallagher. Treated patients had significant
decreases in "...photophobia, phonophobia, nausea and use of
escape medication."
The intranasal route of administration in migraine patients has
several advantages over self-injected medications and over oral
administration because of nausea and migraine-related gastric
stasis, the authors say. Dr. Gallagher's team believes that
dihydroergotamine nasal spray represents a new treatment option
for patients with migraine.
Arch Neurol 1996;53:1285-1291.
-Westport Newsroom 203 221 7648
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