If
you suffer from migraine headaches you know the painful debilitating effect
they can have on your life. Migraine headaches are one of the most common
problems seen in emergency departments and doctors' offices. Migraines are
believed to be due to changes in the brain and surrounding blood vessels. Your
optic nerve and the nerve fiber layer of the retina are extensions of the
brain. Until recently there were few studies to understand if and how the
retina was affected by migraine headaches. Using a testing method we actually
use in our office called Optical Coherence tomography (OCT), researchers
evaluated whether there were structural changes and damage to the nerve fiber
layer of patients who suffered from chronic migraines. The researchers reported
findings in the Journal of Neurology that showed that chronic
migraine suffers had significantly thinner nerve fiber layers and that degree
to which they were thinned was inversely proportional to the frequency of their
migraine headaches. That is, the more frequent the headaches, the greater the
changes and damage to the retina. They believe that although migraine is an
episodic and recurrent disease, its chronic nature might cause permanent
structural abnormalities involving not only the brain, but also the retina.
Thus, it is important to get help to control your migraines not just because of
the pain and disability but to avoid compromising the retina.
If you or someone you know suffers from
migraines or headaches of any type and has not a recent eye exam please call
Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield
County, Google+ or
facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.
Doctor & Associates offices are located
at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road,
Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.
