Understanding Migraines: The Plumbing Problem in Your Brain

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Transcript

Turns out migraines might be a plumbing problem in your brain. Ever had a migraine, then you know it's way more than just a headache. I've heard them described as a pounding, debilitating pain that makes you want to crawl into a dark hole and never come out. And scientists have been trying to figure out why they hurt so much for a long time. And now researchers at the University of North Carolina may have cracked at least part of the code. The culprit is a little protein called CGRP. It spikes during a migraine attack and we've known for a while it was involved in the pain. Just not how. Turns out it can actually mess with the brain's life lymphatic system. Think of your brain like a house with a lot of bathrooms, and the lymphatic system is like the internet. A series of tubes that drain away waste in cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebro spinal fluid. Cerebro spinal fluid. Say that 10 times fast. CGRP acts like a wrench tightening up those tubes, making it hard for the fluid to flow. When researchers injected CGRP and a traceable dye into lymphatic vessels, they saw the drainage slowing way down. For added proof, they studied mice that were resistant to CGRP. These mice had fewer migraines and didn't mind bright lights as much. This study is huge news for migraine sufferers. Yes, it's a rodent study that needs human replication, but that's normal for showing detailed mechanisms, because they don't like us dissecting humans. Understanding this mechanism means that we might be able to develop new treatments that specifically target this CGRP plumbing problem, as opposed to just the blanket, pain, or nervous system dampeners. And one more thing. Migraines are three to five times more common in women. Well, the researchers hypothesized that the hormonal changes throughout a woman's life, like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, might actually affect how the brain's drainage system works. One more thing. Alzheimer's is twice as common in people with migraine, and some mouse models have shown that disrupting cerebral spinal fluid drainage actually can lead to a build-up of plaque formation. So stay tuned because this research could lead to better treatments for everyone.

Additional notes

What causes migraines? Other than people making wild claims on the Internet without any evidence to back them up. The source caption cites CGRP/meningeal lymphatic research, Alzheimer’s association data, and an image reference; identifiers are preserved below.

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