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Drug Treatment for Chronic Migraine

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Pharmacological Management of Headaches

Part of the book series: Headache ((HEAD))

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Abstract

Chronic migraine (CM) is a disabling illness that has substantial impact on the patient’s ability to perform routine daily activities and on productivity in the workplace [1, 2]. Management of chronic migraine requires identifying and managing risk factors, establishing limits on the use acute pain and migraine medications to minimize the effects of overuse, initiating non-pharmacologic treatment, and treating neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety) and other comorbid conditions (e.g., obesity) that may contribute to increased attack frequency. All these therapeutic recommendations are based on clinical experiences and not on the results of randomized, placebo controlled trials. The primary goals of preventive therapy in subjects with chronic migraine are to reduce the frequency and severity of attacks, to reduce reliance on acute medications, and to improve quality of life.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Headache Center, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, Essen, 45147, Germany

    Hans-Christoph Diener MD, PhD

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  1. Hans-Christoph Diener MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Hans-Christoph Diener MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Athens Naval Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Dimos D. Mitsikostas

  2. Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

    Koen Paemeleire

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Diener, HC. (2016). Drug Treatment for Chronic Migraine. In: Mitsikostas, D., Paemeleire, K. (eds) Pharmacological Management of Headaches. Headache. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19911-5_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19911-5_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19910-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19911-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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