Migraine Insight comes to Cardiff

CARDIFF, Wales - Jan. 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Saturday 28th March 2015 9.30am – 1pm

Holiday Inn Cardiff City, Castle Street, Cardiff, CF10 1XD

Migraine Action is bringing together leading headache experts Dr Andrew Dowson, Dr Peter Brooks and Dr Mohamed Hassan to speak at the first Migraine Insight to be held in Wales. The event will provide people information on migraine, including treatments such as Botox and Gammacore. Migraine Insight invites all interested to learn more about migraine and taking control of the condition.

Migraine affects 1 in 7 people in the UK, with an estimated 430,000 sufferers in Wales. Simon Evans of Migraine Action said;

“50% of people with migraine do not have a diagnosis and suffer in silence.  Migraine Insight provides the perfect opportunity for all those affected to find the information they so desperately need and ask the experts directly. For many this will be invaluable in helping them to understand and manage their condition better in the future.”

Places can be booked for just £10 before the 7^th March (£12 after 7^th March) by calling 08456 011 033 or visiting www.migraine.org.uk

If you would like further information on Migraine Insight 28th March in Cardiff, or case studies (available on request) please contact press@migraine.org.uk (mailto:press@migraine.org.uk%20) ASAP. Alternatively please call 0116 249 5772.

Notes to Editors

1.       1 in 7 people in the U.K. suffer from migraine, affecting people from all age groups (even young children) and all social classes

2.       It affects over twice as many women as men.

3.       Migraine costs the U.K. around £1 billion per annum.

4.       The World Health Organisation has classified headache as a major health disorder and has rated migraine amongst the 13^th most disabling lifetime condition

5.       A migraine attack can last for between 4 and 72 hours.

6.       Sufferers experience an average of 13 attacks each year.

7.       Migraine is more than just a headache. Other symptoms can include:

o    visual disturbances (flashing lights, blind spots in the vision, zig zag patterns etc.);

o    nausea and vomiting;

o    sensitivity to light (photophobia);

o    sensitivity to noise (phonophobia);

o    sensitivity to smells (osmophobia);

o    tingling/pins and needles/weakness/numbness in the limbs.

8.       Around 60% of sufferers never consult their G.P. because they mistakenly think that nothing can be done to help them. There is a wide range of effective treatments now available including new products introduced during the past year.

9.       Migraine is triggered by a huge variety of factors not just cheese, chocolate and red wine! For most people there is not just one trigger but a combination of factors which can be tolerated individually but when they all occur together a threshold is passed resulting in a migraine attack.

10.    Migraine is a very individual condition and trigger factors and symptoms vary tremendously from person to person. A treatment, which works well for one sufferer may be completely ineffective for another.

11.    There is no cure for migraine but it is a condition that can, in most cases, be effectively managed.

Dr Peter Brooks is a GP with a special interest in headache at the Eglwysbach Medical Practice, Pontypridd.  He trained at the St Mary's Hospital Medical School, University of London, qualifying B.Sc (Hons) in 1980 and MB BS in 1983. He has been a principal in general practice since 1991, and is the senior partner at Eglwysbach Medical Practice.  In 1999, he established a dedicated headache clinic at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, together with the late Dr Iain McQueen, Consultant Neurologist.  Since approximately 2007, he has run the headache clinic alone, and currently provides a secondary care service to patients living in Cardiff and Vale Health Board area, and a tertiary opinion to patients referred from Consultant Neurologists in neighbouring health boards.

Dr Andrew Dowsonis the Director of the NHS King’s Headache Service at King’s College Hospital, London. He qualified in medicine in 1984 and worked as a GP for several years before becoming a specialist in headache. He is Chairman of Migraine in Primary Care Advisors, a charity which promotes headache management in primary care, and of international organisation ‘Headache Care for Practising Clinicians’ – a group of similar organisations from around the world. Dr Dowson is also Chairman of Migraine Action’s Medical Advisory Board.

Dr Mohamed Hassan is a Consultant Physician at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.  He qualified in Egypt Medical School obtained his masters in medicine then MD (exit exam to become consultant in general medicine).  He was appointed as a Consultant Physician in emergency medicine, in Egypt. He came to the UK in 1995 and had further training, obtained his MRCP and diploma in palliative medicine and accredited by the RCP general medicine. He was appointed as a consultant acute physician in PCH in 2003. His special interests are headache, Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) and Venous Thromboembolism (VTE). He runs regular headache clinics and does Botox injections for chronic migraine.

Migraine Action is a registered charity, which provides support and information to migraine patients and their families, and raises general awareness of this still much-misunderstood condition. Its activities also include fund raising to support specialist migraine clinics and research into the diagnosis, treatment and cure of migraine and other headache disorders. The charity has a quarterly newsletter (for members), a telephone help line and website providing up to date information, as well as numerous leaflets on all aspects of migraine and its treatment. The charity is a totally independent membership charity and its core work is funded solely by donations and membership subscriptions. For further information on migraine and its management, please contact the Migraine Action, 4^th Floor, 27 East Street, Leicester, LE1 6NB, Tel: 0116 275 8317 or visit www.migraine.org.uk.