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What happens in my brain when I get a migraine? And what medications can I use to treat it?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-slee-1343982">Mark Slee</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-khoo-1525617">Anthony Khoo</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a></em></p> <p>Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”.</p> <p>“Migraine” <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1029040/">comes from</a> the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly one-sided.</p> <p>Some people experience an “aura” preceding the headache phase – usually a visual or sensory experience that evolves over five to 60 minutes. Auras can also involve other domains such as language, smell and limb function.</p> <p>Migraine is a disease with a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(18)30322-3/fulltext">huge personal and societal impact</a>. Most people cannot function at their usual level during a migraine, and anticipation of the next attack can affect productivity, relationships and a person’s mental health.</p> <h2>What’s happening in my brain?</h2> <p>The biological basis of migraine is complex, and varies according to the phase of the migraine. Put simply:</p> <p>The earliest phase is called the <strong>prodrome</strong>. This is associated with activation of a part of the brain called the hypothalamus which is thought to contribute to many symptoms such as nausea, changes in appetite and blurred vision.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=485&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=485&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=485&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=610&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=610&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=610&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The hypothalamus is shown here in red.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/brain-cross-section-showing-basal-ganglia-329843930">Blamb/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Next is the <strong>aura phase</strong>, when a wave of neurochemical changes occur across the surface of the brain (the cortex) at a rate of 3–4 millimetres per minute. This explains how usually a person’s aura progresses over time. People often experience sensory disturbances such as flashes of light or tingling in their face or hands.</p> <p>In the <strong>headache phase</strong>, the trigeminal nerve system is activated. This gives sensation to one side of the face, head and upper neck, leading to release of proteins such as CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide). This causes inflammation and dilation of blood vessels, which is the basis for the severe throbbing pain associated with the headache.</p> <p>Finally, the <strong>postdromal phase</strong> occurs after the headache resolves and commonly involves changes in mood and energy.</p> <h2>What can you do about the acute attack?</h2> <p>A useful way to conceive of <a href="https://www.migraine.org.au/factsheets">migraine treatment</a> is to compare putting out campfires with bushfires. Medications are much more successful when applied at the earliest opportunity (the campfire). When the attack is fully evolved (into a bushfire), medications have a much more modest effect.</p> <p><iframe id="Pj1sC" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Pj1sC/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <p><strong>Aspirin</strong></p> <p>For people with mild migraine, non-specific anti-inflammatory medications such as high-dose aspirin, or standard dose non-steroidal medications (NSAIDS) can be very helpful. Their effectiveness is often enhanced with the use of an anti-nausea medication.</p> <p><strong>Triptans</strong></p> <p>For moderate to severe attacks, the mainstay of treatment is a class of medications called “<a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1678146819/Factsheet_15_2023.pdf?1678146819">triptans</a>”. These act by reducing blood vessel dilation and reducing the release of inflammatory chemicals.</p> <p>Triptans vary by their route of administration (tablets, wafers, injections, nasal sprays) and by their time to onset and duration of action.</p> <p>The choice of a triptan depends on many factors including whether nausea and vomiting is prominent (consider a dissolving wafer or an injection) or patient tolerability (consider choosing one with a slower onset and offset of action).</p> <p>As triptans constrict blood vessels, they should be used with caution (or not used) in patients with known heart disease or previous stroke.</p> <p><strong>Gepants</strong></p> <p>Some medications that block or modulate the release of CGRP, which are used for migraine prevention (which we’ll discuss in more detail below), also have evidence of benefit in treating the acute attack. This class of medication is known as the “gepants”.</p> <p>Gepants come in the form of injectable proteins (monoclonal antibodies, used for migraine prevention) or as oral medication (for example, rimegepant) for the acute attack when a person has not responded adequately to previous trials of several triptans or is intolerant of them.</p> <p>They do not cause blood vessel constriction and can be used in patients with heart disease or previous stroke.</p> <p><strong>Ditans</strong></p> <p>Another class of medication, the “ditans” (for example, lasmiditan) have been approved overseas for the acute treatment of migraine. Ditans work through changing a form of serotonin receptor involved in the brain chemical changes associated with the acute attack.</p> <p>However, neither the gepants nor the ditans are available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the acute attack, so users must pay out-of-pocket, at a <a href="https://www.migraine.org.au/cgrp#:%7E:text=While%20the%20price%20of%20Nurtec,%2D%24300%20per%208%20wafers.">cost</a> of approximately A$300 for eight wafers.</p> <h2>What about preventing migraines?</h2> <p>The first step is to see if <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1677043428/Factsheet_5_2023.pdf?1677043428">lifestyle changes</a> can reduce migraine frequency. This can include improving sleep habits, routine meal schedules, regular exercise, limiting caffeine intake and avoiding triggers such as stress or alcohol.</p> <p>Despite these efforts, many people continue to have frequent migraines that can’t be managed by acute therapies alone. The choice of when to start preventive treatment varies for each person and how inclined they are to taking regular medication. Those who suffer disabling symptoms or experience more than a few migraines a month <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1915327">benefit the most</a> from starting preventives.</p> <p>Almost all migraine <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1708566656/Factsheet_16_2024.pdf?1708566656">preventives</a> have existing roles in treating other medical conditions, and the physician would commonly recommend drugs that can also help manage any pre-existing conditions. First-line preventives include:</p> <ul> <li>tablets that lower blood pressure (candesartan, metoprolol, propranolol)</li> <li>antidepressants (amitriptyline, venlafaxine)</li> <li>anticonvulsants (sodium valproate, topiramate).</li> </ul> <p>Some people have none of these other conditions and can safely start medications for migraine prophylaxis alone.</p> <p>For all migraine preventives, a key principle is starting at a low dose and increasing gradually. This approach makes them more tolerable and it’s often several weeks or months until an effective dose (usually 2- to 3-times the starting dose) is reached.</p> <p>It is rare for noticeable benefits to be seen immediately, but with time these drugs <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26252585/">typically reduce</a> migraine frequency by 50% or more.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="jxajY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jxajY/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <hr /> <h2>‘Nothing works for me!’</h2> <p>In people who didn’t see any effect of (or couldn’t tolerate) first-line preventives, new medications have been available on the PBS since 2020. These medications <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8388188/">block</a> the action of CGRP.</p> <p>The most common PBS-listed <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1708566656/Factsheet_16_2024.pdf?1708566656">anti-CGRP medications</a> are injectable proteins called monoclonal antibodies (for example, galcanezumab and fremanezumab), and are self-administered by monthly injections.</p> <p>These drugs have quickly become a game-changer for those with intractable migraines. The convenience of these injectables contrast with botulinum toxin injections (also <a href="https://www.migraine.org.au/botox">effective</a> and PBS-listed for chronic migraine) which must be administered by a trained specialist.</p> <p>Up to half of adolescents and one-third of young adults are <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/147205/jan13818.pdf">needle-phobic</a>. If this includes you, tablet-form CGRP antagonists for migraine prevention are hopefully not far away.</p> <p>Data over the past five years <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36718044/">suggest</a> anti-CGRP medications are safe, effective and at least as well tolerated as traditional preventives.</p> <p>Nonetheless, these are used only after a number of cheaper and more readily available <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1677043425/Factsheet_2_2023.pdf?1677043425">first-line treatments</a> (all which have decades of safety data) have failed, and this also a criterion for their use under the PBS.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/227559/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-slee-1343982">Mark Slee</a>, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-khoo-1525617">Anthony Khoo</a>, Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-in-my-brain-when-i-get-a-migraine-and-what-medications-can-i-use-to-treat-it-227559">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

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Is your diet giving you headaches?

<p><strong>Diet-induced headaches</strong></p> <p>If you’re searching for the cause of that niggling headache, it’s possible that what you’re eating – or drinking – could be to blame.</p> <p><strong>Stop over-restricting your kilojoule intake</strong></p> <p>Spacing your meals too far apart or eating at irregular intervals causes a dip in blood-glucose levels, which drives your body into starvation mode. This triggers a cascade of hormones and brain chemicals similar to your body’s response to stress, which can bring on headaches. Once you fuel up, the headache should go away.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Tip:</em></span> You should wait no more than four hours between meals. Try light snacks between meals, such as a handful of almonds.</p> <p><strong>Stay hydrated </strong></p> <p>Dehydration is a common headache trigger. Experts suspect it may have to do with narrowing of blood vessels in the brain, which reduces the brain’s supply of blood and oxygen. Not getting sufficient electrolytes may also contribute to headaches.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Tip:</em></span> By the time you feel thirsty, your body is already a little dehydrated, so rehydrate often. Have a glass of water with every meal and between meals.</p> <p><strong>Avoid artificial sweeteners</strong></p> <p>Some people may be particularly sensitive to aspartame, which can lead to headaches, according to a US study. Aspartame can be in diet drinks as well as foods.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Tip:</em></span> If you suspect artificial sweeteners may be triggering your headaches, keep a food journal to watch for patterns.</p> <p><strong>Cut caffeine slowly</strong></p> <p>If you’ve ditched fizzy drinks or coffee, you may be experiencing caffeine withdrawal. Experts estimate that about half of people who cut back on caffeine experience headaches.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Tip:</em></span> Decrease your caffeine intake gradually.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/your-diet-giving-you-headaches" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

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6 ways to combat headaches without painkillers

<p><em>Marissa Sandler is the CEO and co-founder of Careseekers. Previously a social justice lawyer and researcher for over 15 years, Marissa is passionate about helping people live with dignity and finding innovative solutions to problems.</em></p> <p>According to Headache Australia 5 million Australians suffer from headaches. Although most of us reach over for the painkillers whenever a headache strikes there are ways to combat headaches that don’t involve any medication at all.</p> <p>Headaches are rarely a one-off event and that is why although it is helpful to explore the different non-medicinal cures at the same time you need to look at prevention. If you don’t address the reasons you get headaches, no sooner have you got rid of one headache, you will be on the path to another one.</p> <p><strong>If a headache does strike here are some things you can try to cure it:</strong></p> <ol> <li>Have a rest in a cool, dark room</li> <li>Alternating hot and cold therapies – place an ice pack on your head or have a warm bath or switch from one to the other</li> <li>Take a walk in the fresh air</li> <li>Get a massage</li> <li>Peppermint oil on your temples, foreheads and wrists will alleviate tension headaches</li> <li>Acupuncture has been known to help the most vicious of migraines</li> </ol> <p>Headache Australia has lots of tips to minimise the number of headaches you experience. Their advice is based on understanding when headaches strike, knowing what causes them and then making lifestyle changes to reduce the causes.</p> <p><strong>Understand when headaches strike</strong></p> <p>Keep a headache diary – on the days you experience a headache make sure you note down what you ate, what exercise you did (if any) what was going on emotionally for you (was it a stressful day?) how much alcohol you consumed etc.</p> <p><strong>Know what causes them</strong></p> <p>By identifying precipitating factors that cause headaches – this includes the amount of sleep, environmental factors like amount of light and noise you are exposed to, diet, physical exertion</p> <p><strong>And then… make lifestyle changes</strong></p> <p>If lots of sugar causes headaches you will need to cut the sugar, if its alcohol you may look at cutting down the number of drinks you have in a week.</p> <p>If stress causes tension headaches you will need to reduce the stress in your life, this is obviously easier said than done but when it comes to stress you can only control your reaction. Take yourself out of situations you know cause you additional stress or distance yourself from people that cause you undue stress.</p> <p>Alternatively plan for stressful periods, if you know you have a stressful week at work try and make other aspects of your life not stressful or make sure you make time to go for a walk or eat healthy food.</p> <p>This all cannot happen if you don’t take responsibility for your headaches, understanding headaches are something that happens within you and not to you may empower you to take control of your headaches and make changes to reduce their occurrence and severity.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

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Airline havoc and lost luggage become major headache for cruise-goers

<p dir="ltr">With airlines across the globe making headlines for delays, <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/qantas-loses-woman-s-luggage-that-contains-her-mother-s-ashes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing passengers’ luggage</a>, and a host of other issues, it might seem that going on a cruise would be a safer option.</p> <p dir="ltr">But many cruise-goers have faced even more significant problems as a result of waylaid luggage, with some telling <em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lost-luggage-cruise-vacation-travel-transport-europe-trip-airport-airline-2022-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Insider</a></em> that they had to choose whether to stay at the airport to find out what happened to their luggage or make it in time for their cruise boarding time.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Ed Perry and his wife, who flew from North Carolina to Amsterdam for a two-week cruise to Budapest and Hungary, flight delays, route changes and having to check their hand luggage resulted in both their carry-on bags and their hold luggage being lost.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was a disaster from start to finish,” Mr Perry told <em>Insider</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">He added that he and his wife couldn’t shop for clothes when their ship docked because they’d paid for excursions, but that other passengers stepped in to lend them clothes.</p> <p dir="ltr">Todd McCloud Jr said losing his luggage after last-minute flight changes “put a dampener on our whole trip”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said a staff member told him his bags would arrive on another flight and be taken straight to the port where his family’s cruise around the Caribbean would be departing from, but that the bags ultimately never arrived.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m lucky that I didn’t put our birth certificates in those bags or else we wouldn’t have been able to go on that cruise at all,” Mr McCloud said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Fortunately, his bags were waiting for him when he returned to the airport, along with a voucher and a cheque from Southwest, the airline he flew with, to cover the cost of the replacement items he purchased during the trip </p> <p dir="ltr">Other passengers shared how their luggage was lost during layovers, with some bags being passed between multiple airports as airlines tried to follow cruise itineraries to match up the luggage with their rightful owners.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thomas Hatch, who was meant to arrive in Rome for a 10-day Celebrity Cruises trip around Europe, said a total of eight bags belonging to him and three other passengers failed to arrive in time.</p> <p dir="ltr">British Airways staff told Mr Hatch that the luggage would be flown to Rome on a later flight, but the flight’s cancellation resulted in six of the bags being sent to Athens the day before Mr Hatch’s ship docked there.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite matching his itinerary, Mr Hatch said the airport was “overwhelmed” with luggage and wouldn’t let the ship's porter collect the bags.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said two of his bags were sent to Thessaloniki Airport in Greece, despite the ship never stopping there.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another passenger, who wished to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardise her chances of compensation, shared photos of luggage tags from her bag, which showed the airline apparently sent it to four European airlines in failed attempts to match up with her cruise.</p> <p dir="ltr">While passengers said they struggled to get help from the airlines, cruise lines went out of their way to be of assistance.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Perry said Viking “bent over backwards for us”, with staff lending him their mobile phones so he could call Air Canada, who he said were difficult to reach during the trip and never offered to send his luggage to other ports.</p> <p dir="ltr">Zoe Greenberg had a similar experience to Mr Perry, sharing that Air Canada was “impossible to reach” despite her calling them daily and her husband spending three-and-a-half hours on hold on one occasion.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They had no idea where our bags were,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">On the other hand, both Mr Perry and Ms Greenberg said their cruise lines also waived laundry fees during their trip.</p> <p dir="ltr">When she arrived back at Barcelona airport, Ms Greenberg said her husband found her luggage in a storage room “with thousands of bags” but that he didn’t receive his until 26 days after their trip.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5c4ad5ad-7fff-35d5-be25-d0b478176b81"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Hunter Biden’s art venture poses ethical headache for the White House

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hunter Biden has unveiled his first art collection in a New York gallery, which is an impressive feat for someone with no formal artistic training. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With his passion for art previously kept secret from the rest of the world, Hunter has burst onto the scene with his artworks that are attracting mildly favourable reviews, and are anticipated to sell for tens of thousands of dollars. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the early success of Hunter’s collection with the </span><a href="https://bergesgallery.com/our-artists/hunter-biden"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Georges Berg</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">ès Gallery</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, his venture into the art world has posed a series of quandaries for the lawyers of his father, President Joe Biden. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lawyers were first concerned when there appeared to be no recommended retail price for an original painting. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, a buyer would make an offer and the dealer chooses whether to accept or decline. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, while President Biden would be unable to accept a briefcase full of a million dollars as a donation, someone would instead be able to offer the same sum for one of his son’s paintings. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Walter Shaub, who headed the Office of Government Ethics under the Obama Administration, was outraged by the younger Biden's venture into art.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"There is no ethics program in the world that can be built around the head of state's staff working with a dealer to keep the public in the dark about the identities of individuals who pay vast sums to the leader's family member for subjectively priced items of no intrinsic value," he tweeted.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"If this were Trump, Xi or Putin, you'd have no doubt whatsoever that this creates a vehicle for funnelling cash to the first family in exchange for access or favours."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, thanks to the White House’s new ethics rules, if someone offers a suspiciously high figure for a painting, Hunter’s art dealer Georges Bergès will turn down the offer. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On top of this, Georges would keep the identity of any buyer secret from Hunter Biden or the White House. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Bergès told </span><a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hunter-biden-gallery-show-1979790"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Artnet News</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that he expected some of Mr Biden's pieces to sell for as much as half a million dollars, and although Hunter has agreed to abide by the White House ethics rules, he is not legally bound to them.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Georges Berg</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">ès Gallery</span></em></p>

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Why do I get a headache when I haven’t had my coffee?

<p>Caffeine is our favourite drug. But if we miss out on our fix, it can be a real headache, in more ways than one.</p> <p>Caffeine is a stimulant. It quickly enters our brain and blocks the (adenosine) receptors that are responsible for dulling brain activity. By blocking the dulling of our brain, we feel a sense of invigoration, focus and subtle euphoria. These feelings can also enhance our performance of certain focused tasks, like driving or staying awake through the whole lecture.</p> <p>This is the upside of caffeine. The downside is how we feel when we are not getting our usual dose. Because of the anticipated highs of brain activity after our cup, the lows without it seem longer and deeper.</p> <p>The other problem is that caffeine is addictive. When we aren’t getting what we’re used to, we can feel tired, inattentive, irritable and moody. This is known as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18625110">withdrawal</a>. Many people regularly drink caffeinated beverages just to avoid feeling this way.</p> <p>By far the most common symptom of caffeine withdrawal is headaches. These are typically mild and short-lived, usually only lasting for a day or two, although they can sometimes last for up to week. They usually feel a bit like a tense band wrapped across your head and are sometimes called <a href="http://headacheaustralia.org.au/headachetypes/tension-type-headache/">tension-type headaches</a> as a result. However, caffeine withdrawal can also trigger a full-on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4975726/">migraine</a> in some sufferers.</p> <p>Why we get headaches with withdrawal (as well as many other causes) is mostly because our face and head is the most active as well as the most sensitive part of our body. For our brain to accurately know what’s happening, the signals it receives from the senses have to be spot on.</p> <p>Any distortion of the signal and the message can become lost in translation, or even result in the wrong message being received. One theory for headaches is our fuzzy brain misinterprets some of the innocuous signals it gets from our head, and calls them a headache.</p> <p>Some level of caffeine withdrawal <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=15448977">would be experienced by maybe half</a> of all regular tea or coffee drinkers, if their regular drug supply would be completely cut off. The more we drink and the more regularly we drink caffeine, the more likely we’d experience withdrawal symptoms if we were to go without.</p> <p>However, withdrawal can happen even in people who usually drink just a single cup every day who then forego caffeine. Equally, only <a href="http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/289/1/285.long">three days</a> of continuous coffee drinking is enough to make you feel bad when the coffee runs out.</p> <p>Caffeine withdrawal only occurs with abstinence. Small amounts of caffeine (just a quarter of a cup) will keep the headaches at bay. Even if the espresso machine is broken and you have to have a (half-less caffeinated) latte, you won’t go into withdrawal.</p> <p>But if you’re going cold turkey, withdrawal headaches typically peak <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.395.79&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">a day or two</a> after removing all caffeine from the menu. Withdrawal does not happen within a few hours of the last cup, despite the protestation of the habitual coffee drinker.</p> <p>Of course, if withdrawal is really the problem, the remedy is simple. Any headache caused by lack of caffeine is rapidly and often completely <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.395.79&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">relieved</a> within 30 minutes to an hour of drinking a cup of tea or coffee.</p> <p>Some of this is the fix and the anticipation of it. In fact, Australian <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26933153">researchers</a> have found giving someone experiencing caffeine withdrawal a de-caf, but telling them it’s caffeinated, is enough to make them feel better. Of course this trick won’t work if you buy the coffee yourself.</p> <p>Surprisingly though, caffeine also has some painkiller properties. Simple pain-killers such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, aspirin or paracetamol <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5655397/">can be more effective</a> when formulated with some caffeine (in each dose about two to three times that in a regular cup of coffee).</p> <p>For <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5018099/#A33193R29">hypnic “alarm clock” headaches</a> that wake sufferers at night, hangover-headaches and some migraine-sufferers, a cup of tea or coffee can be an effective pain-killer on its own.</p> <p>This analgesia is not just because we feel less stressed or less distracted by pain after a cup of tea or coffee. It turns out the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366829">same adenosine receptors</a> blocked by caffeine are also implicated in the origin of headache as well as other kinds of pain.</p> <p>More than 90% of all adults drink coffee or tea, rousing us from our slumber and providing the revitalising energy to do the things that need to be done. It’s not hard to imagine the headaches without it.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100163/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Written by <span>Merlin Thomas, Professor of Medicine, Monash University</span>. Republished with permission of </em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-do-i-get-a-headache-when-i-havent-had-my-coffee-100163" target="_blank"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>.</em></p>

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The problem with virtual reality is endless possibilities

<p>Just a few years ago, virtual reality (VR) was being showered with very real money. The industry raised an estimated US$900 million in venture capital in 2016, but by 2018 that figure had <a href="https://content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/vir_graphic_01.png">plummeted to US$280 million</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.oculus.com/?locale=en_US">Oculus</a> - the Facebook-owned company behind one of the most popular VR headsets on the market - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-facebooks-oculus-go-santa-cruz-headsets-plan-to-make-vr-mainstream-2017-10">planned to deliver 1 billion headsets to consumers</a>, but as of last year had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-oculus-vr-bet-taking-longer-than-expected-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">sold barely 300,000</a>.</p> <p>Investments in VR entertainment venues all over the world, VR cinematic experiences, and specialised VR studios such as <a href="https://atap.google.com/spotlight-stories/">Google Spotlight</a> and <a href="https://www.ccpgames.com/">CCP Games</a> have either significantly downsized, closed down or morphed into new ventures. What is happening?</p> <p>Recent articles in <a href="https://fortune.com/longform/virtual-reality-struggle-hope-vr/">Fortune</a> and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/a/virtual-reality">The Verge</a> have voiced disdain with VR technology. Common complaints include expensive, clunky or uncomfortable hardware, and unimaginative or repetitive content. Sceptics have compared VR experiences to the 3D television fad of the early 2010s.</p> <p>As a VR researcher and developer, I understand the scepticism. Yet I believe in this technology, and I know there are “killer apps” and solutions waiting to be discovered.</p> <p>Last week, Western Sydney University hosted a <a href="https://vrst.acm.org/vrst2019/">global symposium on VR software and technology</a>, at which academics and industry partners from around the world discussed possible ways forward for VR and augmented reality. Among the speakers were Aleissia Laidacker, director of Developer Experience at <a href="https://www.magicleap.com/">Magic Leap</a>; University of South Australia computing professor <a href="https://people.unisa.edu.au/Mark.Billinghurst">Mark Billingurst</a>; and Tomasz Bednarz, director of UNSW’s <a href="https://artdesign.unsw.edu.au/research/epicentre-expanded-perception-interaction-centre">Expanded Perception and Interaction Centre</a>.</p> <p><strong>Virtual reality, literal headache</strong></p> <p>One problem discussed at the symposium is the fact that VR experiences often cause health-related issues including headaches, eye strain, dizziness, and nausea. Developers can partially deal with these issues at the hardware level by delivering balanced experiences with high refresh and frame rates.</p> <p>But many developers are ignoring usability guidelines in the pursuit of exciting content. Gaming industry guidelines used by <a href="https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/Platforms/VR/DevelopVR/ContentSetup/index.html">Epic</a>, <a href="https://developer.oculus.com/design/latest/concepts/book-bp/">Oculus</a>, <a href="https://blog.marvelapp.com/designing-vr-beginners-guide/">Marvel</a>, and <a href="https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/guidelines-for-immersive-virtual-reality-experiences">Intel</a> recommend that games completely avoid any use of induced motion, acceleration or “fake motion”, which are often the main cause of discomfort and motion sickness.</p> <p>Yet the vast majority of available VR experiences feature some kind of induced motion, either in the form of animation or by basing the experience on user movement and exploration of the virtual environment.</p> <p>I have met many first-time VR users who generally enjoyed the experience, but also reported “feeling wrong” – similar to enjoying the clarity of sound in noise-cancelling headphones but also having a “strange sensation” in their ears.</p> <p><strong>Killing creativity</strong></p> <p>Queasiness is not the only turnoff. Another problem is that despite the near-limitless potential of VR, many current offerings are sorely lacking in imagination.</p> <p>The prevailing trend is to create VR versions of existing content such as games, videos or advertisements, in the hope of delivering extra impact. This does not work, in much the same way that radio play would make terrible television.</p> <p>A famous cautionary tale comes from <a href="https://secondlife.com/">Second Life</a>, the virtual world launched in 2003 which <a href="https://gigaom.com/2013/06/23/second-life-turns-10-what-it-did-wrong-and-why-it-will-have-its-own-second-life/">failed spectacularly to live up to its billing</a>. Real-world businesses such as Toyota and BMW opened branches in Second Life, allowing users to test-drive badly programmed versions of their virtual cars. They <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/few-lives-left-for-second-life-20080821-gdsrna.html">lasted mere months</a>.</p> <p>Why would we prefer a humdrum virtual experience to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-virtual-reality-cannot-match-the-real-thing-92035">real one</a>? No one needs a virtual Toyota. We need to give users good reasons to leave their reality behind and immerse themselves in a new one.</p> <p>There have been some notable successes. <a href="https://beatsaber.com/">Beat Saber</a>, made by Czech indie developers, is the one of the few games that have explored the true potential of VR – and is the only VR game to have grossed more than US$20 million.<span class="caption"></span></p> <p>The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPVOt7QjcM">VR Vaccine Project</a> helps to take the sting out of childhood needles, by combining a real-world vaccination with a superhero story in the virtual world, in which the child is presented with a magical shield at the crucial moment.</p> <p>I really hope VR is on its way to becoming more mainstream, more exciting, and less underwhelming. But we scientists can only present new technological solutions, to help make VR a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. Ultimately it is down to VR developers to learn from existing success stories and start delivering those “killer apps”. The possibilities are limited only by imagination.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126761/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tomas-trescak-876634">Tomas Trescak</a>, Senior Lecturer in Intelligent Systems, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-main-problem-with-virtual-reality-its-almost-as-humdrum-as-real-life-126761">original article</a>.</em></p>

Technology

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The new 5G smartphones causing headaches for Apple

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Telstra has recently launched a 5G network within Australia, which means that Samsung, LG and Oppo have also released their first devices that are capable of handling the new network speeds.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As these brands are all Android phones, Apple should be worried about their market share in Australia as Aussies will want a phone that can handle the faster speeds.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are the top three competitors.</span></p> <p><strong>1. Samsung Galaxy S10 5G</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The S10 5G Samsung device has the largest screen out of the three 5G phones on offer, measuring at 17cms. There are four cameras on the back of the device and two on the front, as well as the device offering a 3D depth feature.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 3D depth feature allows more immersive photography and the two cameras on the front mean that there’s a wider angle for you to get selfies with your grandkids.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The phone also offers a headphone jack, reverse wireless charging and an in-screen fingerprint sensor.</span></p> <p> </p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzx1sPLl4cc/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzx1sPLl4cc/" target="_blank">A post shared by Welcome To The Blue Galaxy (@samsungblue_)</a> on Jul 11, 2019 at 6:49am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p><strong>2. LG V50 THINQ 5G</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">LG has shaken up the growing trend of newer smartphones coming with a clear case and has added a new case that snaps onto the back of the V50 ThinQ 5G that also contains a front cover with a built in touch-screen.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’re essentially getting two smartphones in one as the dual screen offered allows you to multitask while on the go.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The dual screen is not compatible for all applications. The LG V50 offers three cameras on the back and there are two cameras on the front, which seems to be a growing trend in the smartphone market. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, you have to open the cover each time to take a photo using the front cameras, which might make you want to remove the dual screen entirely, according to </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/mobile-phones/5g-smartphones-the-midrange-phones-causing-big-headaches-for-apple/news-story/e3a0f9938976a86248d7134ed6b3b5d6"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><a style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzxVGAMJD44/" data-instgrm-version="12"></a></p> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzxVGAMJD44/" target="_blank">A post shared by 🇰🇷 Ji Yeon 지연 (@bli2s_)</a> on Jul 11, 2019 at 2:04am PDT</p> </div> <p><strong>3. OPPO RENO 5G</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Oppo Reno 5G is the cheapest of all three smartphones on offer. The phone offers a 16.7cm display and the screen is edge-to-edge.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Oppo also offer an invisible front facing 16megapixel camera that pops out of the phone when activated. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are three cameras on the rear of the phone that include a 48-megapixel lens with a 10x hybrid zoom.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The phone comes with 256g of on-board storage, but it lacks water resistance and wireless charging. </span></p> <p> </p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BxUily-lEZm/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BxUily-lEZm/" target="_blank">A post shared by PLANET PONSEL (@planetponsel.id)</a> on May 11, 2019 at 4:42am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote>

Technology

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Get headaches? 5 things to eat or avoid

<p>Last week I had a headache. Two hours in a traffic jam, hot day, no water, plans thrown into chaos. That day I was one of the five million Australians affected by headache or migraine. Over a year one person in two will experience a headache.</p> <p>Mine was a “tension-type” headache, the most common category. Migraines are less common but about one person in eight will experience one in any given year.</p> <p>Headaches are really common, so here are five things the research evidence indicates are worth trying to help manage or avoid them.</p> <p><strong>1. Water</strong><br />A study was conducted in people who got at least two moderately intense or more than five mild headaches a month. The participants received a stress management and sleep quality intervention with or without increasing their water intake by an extra 1.5 litres a day.</p> <p>The water intervention group got a significant improvement in migraine-specific quality of life scores over the three months, with 47% reporting their headaches were much improved, compared to 25% of the control group.</p> <p>However, it did not reduce the number or duration of headaches. Drinking more water is worth a try. Take a water bottle everywhere you go and refill it regularly to remind you to drink more water.</p> <p><strong>2. Caffeine</strong><br />Caffeine can have opposing effects. It can help relieve some headaches due to analgesic effects but also contribute to them, due to caffeine withdrawal. A review of caffeine withdrawal studies confirmed that getting a headache was the number one symptom of withdrawal, followed by fatigue, reduced energy and alertness, drowsiness, depressed mood, difficulty concentrating, fuzzy head and others.</p> <p>When people were experimentally put though controlled caffeine withdrawal, 50% got a headache, with withdrawal symptoms occurring within 12-24 hours, peaking between 20-51 hours and lasting from two to nine days. Caffeine withdrawal can happen from a usual daily dose as low as 100 mg/day. One cup of brewed coffee contains 100-150mg caffeine, instant coffee has 50-100 mg depending on how strong you make it and a cup of tea can vary from 10-90mg. It appears that maintaining usual caffeine consumption may subconsciously relate to avoidance of withdrawal symptoms.</p> <p>Caffeine can lessen or worsen headaches.</p> <p>Caffeine can dampen down pain. in a systematic review that included five headache studies with 1,503 participants with migraine or tension-type headache, 33% of participants achieved pain relief of at least 50% of the maximum possible after receiving 100 mg or more caffeine plus analgesic pain medication (ibuprofen or paracetamol) compared to 25% for the analgesic group alone.</p> <p>A study in over 50,000 Norwegians, who have high caffeine intakes (more than 400 milligrams a day), examined the relationship with headaches. Those with the highest caffeine intakes (more than 540mg/day) were 10% more likely to get headaches, including migraine.</p> <p>But when headache frequency was examined, high caffeine consumers were more likely to experience non-migraine headaches infrequently (less than seven per month) compared to those considered low caffeine consumers (less than 240mg a day). This was attributed to potential “reverse causation” where high caffeine consumers use caffeine to damp down headache pain. They found those with the lowest caffeine intakes (125mg a day) were more likely to report more than 14 headaches per month, which may have been due to greater sensitivity and avoidance of caffeine.</p> <p>Hypnic headaches are a rare type that occurs in association with sleep. They typically last 15-180 minutes and are more common in the elderly. Hypnic headaches are treated by giving caffeine in roughly the amount found in a cup of strong coffee.</p> <p><strong>3. Fasting</strong><br />Some people get a headache after fasting for about 16 hours, which equates to not eating between 6pm and 10am the next day. A study in Denmark found one person in 25 has been affected by a fasting headache. These headaches are most likely to occur when fasting for a blood test or medical procedure or if you are following a “fasting” weight loss diet or a very low energy meal replacement diet.</p> <p>Fasting headaches are likely to be confounded by caffeine withdrawal. Check the test procedure instructions to see what fluids, such as tea, coffee and water are allowed and drink within those recommendations.</p> <p>In a study 34 people with new-onset migraine who kept a headache diary for about a month, those who ate a night-time snack were 40% less likely to experience a headache compared to those who didn’t snack. For susceptible individuals this may prevent fasting headaches. Try a slice or wholegrain toast with a topping like cheese and tomato or avocado and tuna, with a cuppa.</p> <p><strong>4. Alcohol</strong><br />Headache is the classic feature of alcohol induced hangovers. The amount of alcohol needed to trigger a hangover varies widely between individuals, from one drink to many. A number of factors mash up to produce a throbbing post alcohol headache. Increased urination and vomiting both increase risk of dehydration which leads to changes in blood and oxygen flowing to the brain.</p> <p>Congeners, a group of chemicals produced in small amounts during fermentation, give alcoholic drinks their taste, smell and colour. Metabolites of alcohol breakdown in the liver can cross the blood-brain barrier contributing to hangover.</p> <p>Alcohol can trigger tension-type headaches, cluster headaches and migraine. People with migraines have been shown to have lower alcohol intakes  compared to others. The wise advice is to drink responsibly, boost your water intake and don’t drink on an empty stomach. If you are sensitive to alcohol, avoidance is your best option.</p> <p><strong>5. Boost your intake of folate-rich foods</strong><br />More folate in your diet helps migraines.</p> <p>Some migraineurs are diet-sensitive. Triggers include cheese, chocolate, alcohol or other specific foods. A recent study found women with low dietary folate intakes had more frequent migraines. However a daily folic acid (1mg) supplement made no difference.</p> <p>Boost your intake of foods rich in folate such as green leafy vegetables, legumes, seeds, chicken, eggs and citrus fruits. Use our Healthy Eating Quiz to check your nutrition, diet quality and variety. Keep a headache diary to identify triggers and then discuss it with your GP.</p> <p><em>Written by Clare Collins. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-headaches-heres-five-things-to-eat-or-avoid-76611">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Mind

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Chemists handing out sick notes “like headache tablets”

<p>The hardest part of chucking a sickie has always been producing a medical certificate on your return to work. But a new report suggests many Aussie workers have found a way around this, getting their sick notes from the pharmacist instead of the doctor, where medical certificates are being, “handed out like headache tablets”.</p> <p>Under the Fair Work Act 2009, ‘absence from work’ forms are widely available at national pharmacy chains, to the point where many outlets actively advertise the service.</p> <p><a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>News.com.au reports</strong></em></span></a> that it’s gotten to the point where a Chemist Warehouse brand in Sydney’s CBD was advertising sick notes for just $20, saying, “Our pharmacist can issue absence from work certificates for personal and carer’s leave.”</p> <p>While this process is perfectly legal, Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group (AI Group) <a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>told news.com.au</strong></em></span></a> that employers who receive these forms are becoming increasingly sceptical of these claims.</p> <p>“Pharmacists are not doctors and the Fair Work Act makes no reference to them being appropriately qualified to issue medical certificates for the purposes of personal/carer’s leave entitlements,” Mr Willox said.</p> <p>“Many employers are likely to take the view that they are not satisfied with certificates obtained from pharmacists.”</p> <p>Guidelines from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia also state that pharmecists should be cautious about handing out these forms without a good reason.</p> <p>“For pharmacists the decision on whether or not to issue a certificate must not be taken lightly.</p> <p>“Pharmacists will need to carefully consider whether or not the illness or injury that is the subject of the certificate is within their recognised area of practice,” the guidelines state.</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p>

Caring

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The heartbreaking reason why this 84-year-old man faked a headache

<p>An Argentinian nurse shared a heartbreaking story of an elderly man named Oscar who came to her hospital.</p> <p>In the post, Gisel Rach explained that Oscar came into the hospital complaining about a headache.</p> <p>However, the nurses soon found out that Oscar wasn’t suffering from a headache at all, but it was his 84th birthday and he didn’t want to spend it alone.</p> <p>Gisel wrote that Oscar has no children, his family members have passed away and his wife died four years ago.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgisel.anabel.9%2Fposts%2F10211056087542248%3A0&amp;width=500" width="500" height="665" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></p> <p>Gisel and two other nurses decided to make Oscar’s day as special as they could, so they threw him a little party in the hospital.</p> <p>The nurses blew up latex glove balloons, gave him a small cake and candle, for him to make a wish.</p> <p>Their simple yet heartfelt gesture left the 84-year-old with a huge smile.</p> <p>In Gisel’s post she wrote, “We value what we have and not what we lack, if you have someone waiting for you, someone who calls you, who cares for you, appreciates you and loves you, loves a lot and especially take because you are a millionaire and you are not aware.”</p>

Retirement Life

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What can trigger a migraine (and how to stop them)

<p><em><strong>Dr Cathy Stephenson is a GP and forensic medical examiner.</strong></em></p> <p>I have suffered from migraines all my life. Thankfully they have got less and less frequent with age, but when they do hit I have to put my life on hold for a bit, unable to see properly to be able to drive or work, and with a headache that makes it impossible to think of anything else.</p> <p>According to the NZ Neurological Foundation, I am far from alone – around 18 per cent of women, and 12 per cent of men, are affected, the majority falling into the 15-55 age bracket.</p> <p>Some of these will only have a migraine once in a blue moon, and will be happy managing their symptoms with pain relief and anti-nausea tablets as required. However, for other migraine sufferers, the condition can be hugely debilitating, leading to numerous days off work each month, and high degrees of pain and misery.</p> <p>For those in the second group, there is hope. Medication aimed at preventing migraines are now widely available, and should be considered if you feel the frequency of your migraines is impacting significantly on your life: although this is clearly a very individual perception, a rule of thumb from a medical point of view is if you have two or more migraines per month, or require pain relief on two or more days of the week, then you should think about prevention.</p> <p>The first rule of prevention is to ensure you have thoroughly explored (and hopefully moderated) your migraine "triggers" – these may include lifestyle factors such as stress, anxiety, exposure to light, alcohol, or dehydration, as well as dietary ones, especially caffeine, chocolate, food additives and preservatives, and cheeses.</p> <p>For women a really common trigger is the menstrual cycle, with a lot of migraines occurring just before a period. If you're not sure what things in particular seem to trigger your migraines, a really simple and effective way to find out is to keep a headache diary, and document all the factors in the two or three days leading up to an attack.</p> <p>It won't take long to start seeing some patterns forming, and hopefully there will be some steps you can take that will help bring relief quickly and easily.</p> <p>Once you have minimised your triggers, you could consider taking a regular "prevention" medication, with the aim of reducing the frequency and/or severity of your attacks. Preventers (also known as "prophylactics") need to be taken every day, and will usually take 2-4 weeks to show their full effect.</p> <p>If they work, I would recommend staying on them for six months or more before attempting a trial off them. There are several different preventers available, so if one doesn't suit you, don't despair – just talk to your doctor about giving one of the others a trial:</p> <p><strong>Beta-blockers</strong></p> <p>Originally designed to help treat high blood pressure, this group of drugs are really effective at reducing migraines. They include the drugs atenolol, propranolol, metoprolol and bisoprolol, and it may be worth trialling more than one to find the "best fit" for you. Unfortunately people with a history of asthma can't take these medicines. Incidentally, they can also be really helpful for anxiety, so if stress is a major component of your migraines, these could be the perfect option!</p> <p><strong>Amitriptyline</strong></p> <p>This "tricyclic" antidepressant is another great option for preventing migraines. It also helps sleep and chronic pain, and is usually effective at much lower doses than would be used to treat depression. It works by modulating the pain pathways in our body. Ideally, a very low dose is used to start with, to try and avoid side effects, and titrated upwards over several weeks to get the optimal benefit.</p> <p><strong>Migradol </strong></p> <p>There is increasing evidence that some natural products may be effective at preventing migraine attacks. Migradol contains vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and magnesium combined, and is certainly worth a trial. Another over-the-counter option that has had good results in clinical trials is butterbur, an extract from a ragweed plant – however there have been reports of liver toxicity associated with its use, so make sure you discuss this with your doctor and get any monitoring they recommend.</p> <p><strong>Sodium valproate and topiramate</strong></p> <p>These are both anti-convulsants used in epilepsy, and have been found to be effective in some people with migraines. However, they may have more side effects than the other medications listed, so I would reserve them to use if the others have proven ineffective.</p> <p>Lastly, for women having their periods, it is worth trying to "override" the natural cycle, in the hope this will reduce the number or severity of migraine attacks. This can be done with either oestrogen supplements, or by using a progesterone contraceptive such as the depo injection.</p> <p><em>Written by Dr Cathy Stephenson. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>

Body

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Seeing stripes may cause headaches

<p>Researchers at the University Medical Centre (UMC) Utrecht in the Netherlands believe patterns of parallel lines have the potential to <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/insurance/2016/09/6-foods-that-will-help-soothe-a-headache/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>cause of headaches in healthy people</strong></span></a>.</p> <p>The researchers state that these patterns in anything from stripy sofas to faux-French shirts cause a rise in a type of brain activity that produce strong "gamma oscillations" which can result in negative effects like <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/health/body/2015/11/migraine-triggers/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>headaches and migraines</strong></span></a>.</p> <p>The team behind the findings believe their research should potentially be considered by architects and designers to help create spaces for those sensitive to migraines.</p> <p>Dora Hermes of the UMC told <em><a href="http://www.News.com.au" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>News.com.au</strong></span></a></em>, “Our findings imply that in designing buildings, it may be important to avoid the types of visual patterns that can activate this circuit and cause discomfort, migraines, or seizures.</p> <p>"Even perfectly healthy people may feel modest discomfort from the images that are most likely to trigger seizures in photosensitive epilepsy."</p> <p>New research in the field is planned after the findings.</p> <p>Do stripy patterns make you feel queasy? Let us know in the comments. </p>

Mind

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6 foods that will help soothe a headache

<p>Nothing throws a spanner into the works of a productive day like a headache, but if you’re clever they can be avoided. Here are six foods to help soothe any headache.</p> <p>This way you’ll never have a day derailed by head pains.</p> <p><strong>1. Leafy salad</strong></p> <p>Many of the most pounding headaches are caused by dehydration, so a fresh leafy salad is a great way to rehydrate yourself while getting some extra vitamins. Iceberg lettuce is a great source of water, but relatively low in nutrients so try for varieties like butter lettuce, spinach and arugula that have other goodies to help you face the headache.</p> <p><strong>2. Potato</strong></p> <p>Headaches can also be caused by a lack of electrolytes like potassium, which the humble potato just so happens to have in spades! A baked potato with skin is a great source of potassium (and might be a great way to nurse a self-inflicted headache).</p> <p><strong>3. Wholegrain toast</strong></p> <p>Now here’s a warning for people adopting a low-carb diet. Opting out of carbohydrates can deplete glycogen stores which are the main source of energy to the brain, increasing fluid losses and in turn triggering dehydration. If you’re starting to feel a headache on the horizon, you can do worse than making yourself a couple of slices of wholegrain toast.</p> <p><strong>4. Almonds</strong></p> <p>Magnesium is key to protecting your body from the brunt of a headache by helping to relax blood vessels, and a great source of magnesium is the humble almond. Munching on a handful of plain almonds whenever you feel as though a headache is about to occur could be an effective way of alleviating some of the condition’s worst symptoms.</p> <p><strong>5. Sesame seeds</strong></p> <p>Sesame seeds might be small but they pack a huge nutritional punch. Sesame seeds are rich in vitamin E which can help prevent migraines and improves circulation which can help prevent headaches. These useful seeds are also rich in magnesium which, as we mentioned before, is quick an effective way to cut down on headaches.</p> <p><strong>6. Fatty types of fish</strong></p> <p>Asides from being a potent source of omega-3 fatty acids, fatty varieties of fish also have many anti-inflammatory properties which can help reduce the pain of chronic headaches. Now if that’s not a good enough excuse for some smoked salmon we don’t know what is!</p> <p>Have you tried any of these headache soothing foods?</p> <p>Let us know in the comments.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2016/01/pains-you-should-never-ignore/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>6 pains you should never ignore</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2015/11/migraine-triggers/"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Surprising migraine triggers</strong></span></em></a></p> <p><a href="/health/eye-care/2015/07/headaches-vision-problem/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Are vision problems the cause of headaches?</strong></em></span></a></p>

Insurance

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Surprising migraine triggers

<p>If you suffer from migraines, you know that they’re a lot more than just a headache. They can cause nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, pain, and more, and can be entirely debilitating. As it turns out, anything from your diet to your lifestyle could be affecting your health. If you suffer from migraines, consider some of the following surprising migraine triggers, as listed by Dr Robert Mathews of Cremorne Medical in NSW, Australia.</p> <p><strong>Surprising migraine triggers:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Stress</li> <li>Lack of sleep: A lack of sleep or a disrupted sleep schedule can contribute to the onset of migraines.</li> <li>Viral infections</li> <li>Menstruation (in women)</li> <li>Caffeine: “Found in coffee and chocolate, [caffeine can be a [migraine] trigger]” Dr Mathews says.</li> <li>Painkillers: “Sometimes taking pain killers too frequently can paradoxically trigger migraines.”</li> <li>Weather changes: “[An] unusual trigger is a change in barometric pressure such as sudden weather changes.”</li> <li>Additionally: “People who are overweight and snore have a higher risk of developing chronic migraines,” Dr Mathews warns.</li> </ul> <p>While avoiding these triggers can help to discourage migraines, Dr Mathews also shared some key everyday advice to help prevent their onset:</p> <p>“The best medicine is often the simplest, such as getting eight hours sleep per night, managing your stress levels through regular exercise, relaxation, and eating a healthy diet. Hydration is also really important, make sure you are having at least six glasses of water per day,” Dr Mathews recommends.</p>

Body

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Riboflavin helps treat migraines

<p>In recent times, nutritional supplements and alternative therapies have become popular methods of treating migraines. If you or someone you know suffers from migraines, you’ll understand why people are willing to try something different to find a way to fight back against the crippling headaches.</p> <p>One of the nutritional supplements on the rise is riboflavin – a B vitamin found in some everyday foods like almonds, mushrooms, spinach and whole grains. In 2012, the American Headache Society and American Academy of Neurology guidelines for prevention of episodic migraine listed riboflavin as a level B drug. This means that it is considered “probably effective” for migraine prevention.</p> <p>Having acknowledged that, it’s important to note that only two randomised controlled studies that examine the use of riboflavin in preventing headaches have taken place. In one study, 55 participants received either a sugar pill placebo or 400mg of riboflavin during the testing period of three months. The riboflavin was reported to reduce the number of headaches by at least 50 per cent in 59 per cent of the group receiving riboflavin.</p> <p>The second study used a very small dose of riboflavin in the placebo (as riboflavin alters the colour of urine, and scientists worried people would know if they were taking the placebo or not). In that study, 44 per cent of the placebo group reported a 50 per cent or greater reduction in migraines, compared with 42 per cent in the riboflavin group. It’s possible that even the small amount of riboflavin in the placebo (25mg) had an effect on the migraines.</p> <p>However, as with any medical issues, you should consult with your doctor before beginning any kind of new treatments. Until you do, adding a few extra almonds to your diet couldn’t hurt.</p>

Mind

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