Combined drug appears better at battling migraines
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 6:48 AM PDT
By Washington Post
Printable version
E-mail this articleTHE QUESTION Nausea, severe pain and sensitivity to light and sound are among the symptoms that often accompany migraine headaches. Because the symptoms are believed to originate from different sites in the brain, might drug treatment that targets more than one neural pathway provide better relief?
THIS STUDY involved two groups of adults who had migraines regularly: 1,461 in one group, 1,495 in the other. They were randomly assigned to take naproxen (500 milligrams), sumatriptan (85 mg), both drugs (combined in one tablet for the study) or a placebo after the start of a migraine with moderate to severe pain. After two hours, 65 percent of those in the first group taking both drugs (57 percent in the second) reported less pain, compared with 55 percent (50 percent) of those taking sumatriptan alone, 44 percent (43 percent) taking naproxen alone and 28 percent (29 percent) of those in the placebo group. Similar results were seen for absence of light and sound sensitivity and nausea. Sustained relief also was better with both drugs than with either alone; in the first group, for instance, 25 percent remained pain-free 24 hours after taking the drug combination, compared with 16 percent taking sumatriptan, 10 percent taking naproxen and 8 percent taking the placebo. Though not frequent, side effects such as dizziness and drowsiness were reported more often by the combination group.
WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? People who have migraines, which affect nearly 30 million Americans, three times more women than men.
CAVEATS Whether a different combination of doses might yield different results remains unclear. The effect also might be different if medication were taken before the pain became moderate or severe. GlaxoSmithKline and Pozen funded the study and were involved in data collection and analysis; three of the 10 authors were employees of the pharmaceutical companies.
FIND THIS STUDY April 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association; abstract available at www.jama.com/.
LEARN MORE ABOUT migraines at www.thebrainmatters.org (click on Migraine in small type at the bottom of the page) and www.headaches.org (click on Educational Resources).
The research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals. Nonetheless, conclusive evidence about a treatment's effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering changing or beginning treatment of any kind should consult with a physician.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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