Botox injections may help migraine patients

Botulinum toxin injections, also known as Botox, used to treat facial lines and wrinkles may help reduce the frequency of migraine headaches, according to a new report.

Research published in the JAMA journal Archives of Dermatology found a link between Botox injections and the alleviation of migraine symptoms.

After three months of treatment, the migraine frequency was reduced from an average of 6.8 days per month to an average of 0.7 days per month.

Authors of the preliminary study explained: "Our findings invite consideration of using botulinum toxin type A injections to prevent migraine headaches and may promote the role of the dermatologist in the treatment of patients with migraine."

Botox produces muscle paralysis and research suggests it may affect the way pain signals move through the nervous system, block pain receptors or reduce inflammation.

UK charity Migraine Action states that the condition affects more than six million Brits and is more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined.

Abiraterone, a drug that extends the life of prostate cancer sufferers, has been provisionally rejected for use on the NHS. However, it will still be available to patients with private medical insurance . ...

After we previously reported that prostate cancer drug abiraterone has been deemed by NICE as too expensive for use on the NHS, health insurers are now coming forward to offer cover for the drug. NICE had...

Scientists cannot explain how 75 per cent of people catch the superbug C. difficile, after a study showed that only a quarter of infections in one hospital system were traced to contact with a suffering...

Up to one in five men is carrying a gene from their father that increases their risk of coronary heart disease by 50 per cent. A study has found that men can inherit a form of heart disease from their father...

An interesting new study indicates that starvation paired with chemotherapy can significantly reduce the growth of cancer cells, matching or improving the effects of chemotherapy alone. Scientists at the...