Certain migraine medications may be more effective than Ibuprofen

Migraine attacks are characterized by intense throbbing head pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea or vomiting. Previous research has shown migraine can also be associated with cognitive issues.

For many people with migraine, it can be difficult to find a treatment that is effective and reliable, and information on how medications compare to one another is lacking. A new study draws data from nearly 300,000 people using a smartphone app to help people make decisions about their medications.

The study found that certain migraine medications like triptans, ergots and anti-emetics may be two to five times more effective than ibuprofen for treating migraine attacks, according to new research published in the issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"These results confirm that triptans should be considered earlier for treating migraine, rather than reserving their use for severe attacks." For the study, researchers included over 3 million migraine attacks from nearly 300,000 users that were self-reported by people using a smartphone app during a six-year period.

The app allows users to monitor the frequency of migraine attacks, triggers, symptoms and medication effectiveness. For those migraine attacks, participants entered 4.7 million treatment attempts with various medications into the app. They recorded in the app whether a medication was helpful or not.

Reference: Xiaoran Liu, Todd Beck, Klodian Dhana, Pankaja Desai, Kristin R. Krueger, Christy C. Tangney, Thomas M. Holland, Puja Agarwal, Denis A. Evans, Kumar B. Rajan. Association of Whole Grain Consumption and Cognitive Decline. Neurology, 2023; 101 (22): e2277 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207938