on Apr 27th, 2010Causes of migraine
Causes of migraine
The precise causes of migraines will not be completely understood, but there is a general agreement that the one main element is the changes in blood flow in the brain and the various triggers being the reason. The known accepted hypothesis recommends that a migraine is quickened when nerve cells (nociceptors) give off chemicals that are called neuropeptides. It takes only one neurotransmitter to increase the sensitivity of pain of all other nociceptors. The chemicals (neuropeptides) play the muscle surrounding the blood vessels that regulate the brain’s blood flow by either contracting or relaxing, and this enlarges or constricts those blood vessels that are enclosed. At the start of the migraine, neuropeptides cause the muscles to relax, and this allows the blood flow to increase and the vessels to dilate. Other neuropeptide chemicals increase the cranial vessels to leak and this promotes tissue swelling and inflammation. The causes of migraines are then the result of the combination of all the above: vessel swelling, pain sensitivity and inflammation. The altered vision or the aura that one sees during the migraine is due to the constriction in the vessels that enlarge when you have the headache. Migraines are something that is inherited. If you have a child and you are a migraine sufferer, there is a 50 percent chance that the child will be suffering from migraines. If both parents are sufferers, the child’s chances of suffering from migraines rise to 70 percent. Unfortunately, determining the gene that is responsible for the causes of migraines is unidentified. In all the migraine cases there is no clear familial basis. The warning signs of these merciless headaches are thought to be caused when the blood vessels in the brain narrow. The intensity comes in when the narrowing of the vessels in the brain is followed by the dilating or expanding of the body’s blood vessels. What causes these blood vessels to dilate or expand are when prostaglandins, a substance that produces pain is released. The prostaglandins are not the only chemicals that are released that are the causes of migraines. There are other chemicals in the body that cause swelling and inflammation, and also some chemicals that assist with the sensitivity of pain that are also released. With the various chemicals, and the dilation of the vessels in the scalp, encourages the pain receptors in the brain and this results in you having a headache.
