American Headache Society Meeting Report

June 29th, 2011 - Posted by Teri Robert

Learning more about Migraine and other headache disorders was at the top of my agenda when I attended the 53^rd annual scientific meeting of the American Headache Society in Washington, D.C., June 2 – 5.

This annual meeting is my biggest learning opportunity of the year, attending the same sessions that doctors attend for their continuing medical education. Each year, it gets easier to understand these medical presentations, but some of them are still quite complex. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of doctors there who are kind enough to sit down with me and help me understand the parts that go shooting over my head.

he session topics this year included:

Maltreatment and Headache: Epidemiology, Neurobiology, Evaluation, and Treatment. This session reviewed studies showing a connection between abuse and Migraine and headache.
The Role of the Thalamus in Migraine.
Mechanisms and Clinical Targets of Chronic Migraine: Clinical Perspectives and Advancements.
Controversies in Headache Medicine: Detoxification for MOH is Not Necessary. Addressed the controversial topic of whether patients need to be “detoxed” from the medications causing medication overuse headache before they can progress with their treatment.
Migraine and Genetics: New Findings and Implications for Clinicians.
Premonitory (Prodrome) Phase of Migraine.

In addition to the major presentations, there were scientific paper presentations to hear, research posters to view, committee meetings to attend, networking to be done, and people to catch up with.

Most of the doctors who attend these conferences are Migraine and headache specialists, and it’s always refreshing and impressive to witness their passion for the field and their compassion for their patients. Many of them are Migraineurs as well, and that’s why some of them chose this specialty.

As usual after one of these conferences, my head is still spinning with all I learned, the people I talked with, and processing it all. In some of my future posts, I’ll be sharing with you some of what I learned so we’re all better informed and better prepared to work with our doctors as treatment partners.

Live well,
Teri Robert Signature