Clinical Picture
Migraine prodrome: A nose on a face
The migraine prodrome is a constellation of symptoms occurring 24 h before a migraine headache. Premonitory symptoms include food cravings, depression, lethargy, urinary retention and yawning. A dopaminergic mechanism has been suggested. Up to 60 per cent of migraine sufferers have a prodrome, but rarely is it inquired about in the headache history. If a migraine prodrome is identified it presents a unique treatment of opportunity.The migraine prodrome may not be easy to identify as a nose on the face but it should be sought, since treatment given at the time of the prodrome could prevent the onset of a migraine. Source: THE LANCET
Dietary fats may alter glaucoma risk
A diet high in n-6 and low in n-3 polyunsaturated fats may offer some protection against developing glaucoma, data from two large studies suggest. Dr. Jae H. Kang from Harvard University and colleagues examined dietary fat intake in relation to glaucoma in 76,000 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study and 40,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The participants were free of glaucoma when the studies began in the 1980s, and they were followed for at least 10 years According to the team's report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 474 cases of primary open-angle glaucoma occurred among the subjects. The researchers found that there was a "suggestive" association between a higher ratio of n-3 to n-6 polyunsaturated fat and so-called primary open-angle glaucoma, especially for the subtype of the disorder in which pressure inside the eye is elevated. "Because this is the first examination of this relation, further studies are needed to corroborate these findings," Kang and colleagues conclude. Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, May 2004.
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