An estimated 1.5 million people in Taiwan, or about 15 percent of the population, suffer from migraines, according to the results of a two-year epidemiological study conducted by Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the National Yangming University.
The research found that nearly 80 percent of patients took pain-killers for temporary relief.
Forty-five percent of patients bought over-the-counter painkillers at drug stores and only 33 percent chose to see doctors. Some 2.5 percent took painkillers every day and up to 31 percent of patients were taking excessive quantities of painkillers.
"The temporary relief provided by over-the-counter drugs doesn't affect the headache and some might even lead to addiction," said Wang Shuu-jiun (
Most painkillers or liquid cold medicines sold in drugstores contain not only ingredients to relieve pain but also caffeine and PPA (phenylpropanolamine).
PPA was withdrawn from use by the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this month because of the risk of its leading to hemorrhagic stroke.
The Department of Health also appealed to the public not to use drugs containing PPA for the time being after the US announcement.
The research was carried out from 1997 to 1999 and targeted 3,377 people in the Taipei area. 14.2 percent of females and 4.6 percent of males were diagnosed as migraine patients and researchers have estimated that 1.5 million people in Taiwan are suffering from the illness.
Wu Zin-an (
Five percent of people who visited doctors in the Taipei area did so for a headache, according to the research. One out of 20 clinic visits subsidized by the National Health Insurance scheme were related to headaches.
The hospital held a press conference yesterday in order to raise public awareness of migraines and appeal to patients to consult physicians instead of buying over-the-counter drugs.
"The key to dealing with chronic headaches is to abstain from painkillers," Wang said.
The hospital has adopted intravenous injections of medicine to help patients who suffer from daily headaches and have become addicted to painkillers. This therapy has proven effective.
Wang said only 4 percent of the whole population had never suffered from any sort of headache in their lives.
Therefore, "If we can constrain migraine patients' headaches to the pain level and frequency of normal people, we can say the therapy works," Wang said.
Migraines are a hereditary illness, according to physicians.
Females are more susceptible to migraines than males. Stress and some foods -- such as chocolate, cheese, squid and red wine -- are thought to be probable causes.
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