Migraines get bad film roles

CHICAGO — Among the many studies about neurotransmitters, drug trials and migraines presented last week at a meeting here of headache experts comes this breakthrough: If a movie character gets a headache, he better watch out — he's either crazy or facing certain death.

Whether the character's head pounding is caused by an embedded microchip, a demon or an inoperable brain tumor, the use of a headache as a Hollywood plot device is most often used to show characters that are flawed, weak or insane, the doctors said.

Their study is not scientific and it's certainly not breaking new medical ground, they acknowledge.

But the stereotypes about headache-sufferers that pervade the movie screen can influence how their patients and the public view headaches — the oft-misunderstood ailment that costs the United States billions in lost productivity every year, they said.

"Patients know they aren't going to have a chip or an alien coming out of their head," said Dr. Katherine Henry, a neurology professor at New York University School of Medicine. "But whether it's conscious or subconscious, these perceptions can be powerful."

Henry was among the neurologists gathered for the annual meeting of the American Headache Society to discuss new research and treatments.

The subject of migraines dominated the meeting. About 28 million Americans suffer from migraines, headaches that are as debilitating as they are common. About one in five women, and one in 20 men, report suffering from the inherited disorder that is associated with nausea, vomiting, numb hands and a sensitivity to light.

Over five days, the roughly 800 doctors assembled delved into whether migraines, as a genetic condition, can ever be truly cured and how school nurses can better diagnose children with migraines.

Researchers from St. Louis University presented findings showing that migraine sufferers forgo taking their medication when they need it because insurance companies often limit the number of migraine pills people are allowed each month. Triptans work most effectively when taken at the first sign of a migraine, but patients hold off, not wanting to "waste a pill," the doctors said.

It's still a common misconception that migraines are just another headache, said Dr. Tony Ho, senior director of clinical neuroscience for Merck & Co. "But these are people who can't work, who can't even check their e-mail," he said.

For moviegoers unfamiliar with migraines, the depiction of a severe headache on the screen can be their only experience with the symptoms, Henry said.

"They watch a character and they think, 'Oh my God, my hands are tingling, too,"' said Dr. Bert Vargas, a neurology resident at New York University. "They worry it's a tumor."

In reality, only a quarter of headaches are caused by head trauma, strokes or tumors. Most often, they are either migraines or tension headaches.