Headache and migraine are common — but they’re not quite the same thing. In fact, one of them can be so severe that it can become almost impossible to live a normal life.
“In a given year, probably 90% of the population will have a headache,” said Merle Diamond, MD, an integrative medicine doctor and headache specialist with Endeavor Health.
“Migraine is completely different — it’s a complicated neurologic process that is moderate to severely disabling, meaning the person can't perform their daily duties.”
In fact, some patients find migraine so debilitating that they cannot live a normal life at all. For many of these patients, inpatient treatment is needed but not readily available — only two such centers exist in the country.
Dr. Diamond is the Director of the new Endeavor Health Diamond Headache & Migraine Center.
We spoke with Dr. Diamond to learn more about what chronic migraine is, the recent breakthroughs in medical treatment, and how an inpatient center can give people disabled by chronic migraine the ability to live a normal life once more.
What is chronic migraine?
Migraine is associated with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and light and noise sensitivity. It can last anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. Some people have chronic migraine, which means they have migraine attacks 15 or more days a month.
“Patients seek care from a neurologist or headache specialist when they're having frequent attacks or very high disability during those attacks,” said Dr. Diamond.
Because migraine is so disabling, many patients need prescription medication to manage attacks. The American Headache Society recommends that anyone who suffers from migraine have an effective acute therapy on hand at all times — meaning they have a medication they can take when a migraine begins. “About 30% to 40% of our patients also need preventive medication,” said Dr. Diamond.
Breakthroughs in medication for chronic migraine
In the last few years, an exciting breakthrough has led to new medications that are very effective for patients suffering from chronic migraine.
“A migraine researcher named Peter Goldsby discovered a neuropeptide called CGRP, or calcitonin gene-related peptide, which is a compound your body makes,” explained Dr. Diamond. “A bucket-load of it gets released at the onset of a migraine attack, sending a message to your cerebral cortex that causes pain.”
Newer migraine medicines block CGRP by not letting it bind to the nerves. "CGRP is like a key, and the nerves that carry the pain message are the lock,” explained Dr. Diamond. “These newer medicines either block the keyhole, or they make the CGRP ‘key’ not fit into the keyhole.”
Before CGRP inhibitors, all the medications used to treat or prevent migraine were developed for a different disease and then found to also work for migraines.
“These newer medications are the first drugs invented specifically for what happens during the migraine attack. They've truly changed the lives of our patients,” explained Dr. Diamond.
The legacy of the Diamond Headache & Migraine Center
“My dad, Dr. Seymour Diamond, was one of the first headache doctors in the country,” said Dr. Diamond. “People came from all over the place to see him — a lot of whom were highly disabled and weren't able to participate in their lives.”
Many patients who needed long-term treatment would stay in motels near Dr. Seymour Diamond’s office for weeks or months at a time, so in the 1980s, he established an inpatient program for patients who were extremely disabled by migraine.
“It was very innovative — he was a visionary,” said Dr. Diamond. “He’d include biofeedback or physical therapy or acupuncture, because he knew these very disabled patients needed multiple modalities to get better.”
Inpatient headache and migraine centers, while currently rare, play a critical role in restoring normal life for many patients with chronic migraine. “There are approximately 45 million Americans who suffer from chronic migraine,” said Dr. Diamond. “For those who are severely impaired by migraine, there are not a lot of places for them to go. Putting together individual treatment plans for those patients is really important.”
Endeavor Health’s new Diamond Headache & Migraine Center offers an inpatient unit at Endeavor Health Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, with 21 beds and plans to add more in the future. There are also office locations in Chicago and Glenview.
“The opportunity to work within a hospital system like Endeavor Health, with so many other consultants and interventions, enables us to make sure that our patients have access to a higher level of care,” she said. “I love to say that we take really special care of our patients.”
For patients struggling with chronic migraine, Dr. Diamond encourages them to visit a specialist and find the right treatment to help them get back to a functioning, normal life. The Endeavor Health Diamond Headache & Migraine Center helps patients do just that.
“We're super excited because this facility is going to be amazing,” she said. “I know my dad would be proud of it.”
The new Endeavor Health Diamond Headache & Migraine Center offers specialized expertise, personalized care and comprehensive resources, with an inpatient unit in Arlington Heights and office locations in Chicago and Glenview. Learn more.
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