Migraine overview
A migraine is a headache that can purpose intense throbbing suffering or a pulsing sensation, typically on one facet of the head. It's often accompanied with the aid of nausea, vomiting, and excessive sensitivity to mild and sound. Migraine assaults can closing for hours to days, and the discomfort can be so excessive that it interferes with your each day activities. For some people, a warning symptom viewed as an air of secrecy takes location until now than or with the headache. An air of secrecy can consist of visible disturbances, such as flashes of mild or blind spots, or different disturbances, such as tingling on one thing of the face or in an arm or leg and concern speaking.
My experience-Channelopathies: a rabbit hole I traversed over spring break, with insights into genetics and a better understanding of the why of migraine disorders
I am not a scientist/doctor, but I do read a lot about migraine. Lately, I've been seeing more references in academic papers and articles to the known genetic variances identified in family-inherited hemiplegic migraine. It piqued my interest because the mutations are related to ion channel function. I started wondering more about the role of ion channel function in migraines and discovered there's lots to read about this! I wanted to make a post with some of the information in case it helps anyone with thinking in a different way about why they have migraines. My chronic migraine was not inherited, I'm the only one in my family who has them, but I'm interested in the genetics of migraine and especially in the idea that migraine is the manifestation of a metabolic disorder. Now, I'm interested in the idea that migraines are the result of genetic variance causing channelopathies!
There are 4 genetic mutations linked to having hemiplegic migraine in a family:
CACNA1A, (calcium channels and the control of neural excitability in glutamate pathways), ATP1A2, (sodium/potassium channels and the exchange needed for glutamate reuptake), SCN1A, (sodium channels impacting cortical neurons), PRRT2, (pre-synaptic transmembrane protein and neurotransmitter release)
These channels allow ions to flow in and out of your cells, moving nutrients in, moving waste out. Ions come from electrolytes. Ion channels and receptors trigger neural activity, including CGRP release, and have interactions with acetylcholine (which is blocked by botox), serotonin, and glutamate.
While we know the mutations above will cause hemiplegic migraine (they are monogenic, meaning it just takes one), there are a bunch of other genetic variants that are associated with migraine (these are polygenic). That means when someone has them, there is greater likelihood that they have migraine, and the more you have, the worse off you might be. I like this approach for understanding why some of us are episodic, some chronic, some have aura, and some hemiplegic. This spectrum continues through having ataxia and epilepsy too. For example, you might have a mutation that impacts extracellular levels of potassium and glutamate, and if your mutation causes minimal deviation from the norm, you might have migraine without aura, but if you have a greater deviation or you have additional mutations that also impact this, then you get an aura too.
These discoveries are really important because they might lead us to a future in which we are not just treating the symptoms of our migraines, but can actually address the underlying cause.
Searching "the genetics of migraine," and "ion channelopathies and migraine" will get you to the reading I did. Really interesting stuff!
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