Headache affects – according to the World Health Organization – one in 2 people with episodes that occur at least once a year. And the National Day which is celebrated tomorrow, May 27, is dedicated to headaches. Promoted by the neurologists of the Sin – Italian Society of Neurology and of the Italian Society for the study of headaches (Sisc), the initiative aims to raise awareness among the population on this pathology which also affects the youngest – details a note – just think that over 40% of children suffer from headaches while 10 out of 100 children suffer from migraines, a common form of primary headache.
On the occasion of the Day, Sin and Sisc will also take stock of the progress of scientific research in the diagnostic and therapeutic fields – continues the note – as well as on the new implementing decrees of law 81/2020 which recognized chronic migraine as a social disease. Furthermore, on the social channels Facebook, Instagram and Twitter of the two scientific societies, informative videos will be published on the main curiosities related to headaches, created in collaboration with the experts who deal with this disease. Some videos will be inspired by questions that have come directly from users via social networks or via e-mail.
“In Italy, 12% of the adult population suffers from migraine, a form of headache characterized by a throbbing pain with moderate-severe intensity which is often localized in half of the head and face – explains Alfredo Berardelli, president of Sin – A reality that affects 6 million people in our country who find themselves living with a pathology so debilitating that it has been indicated by the WHO as a cause of greater disability in the age group between 20 and 50, i.e. at the time of life in where we are most productive.
Fortunately, thanks to the discovery of the mechanism that generates migraine pain – continues the note – new monoclonal antibody-based therapies have now entered clinical practice and are recording an important step change in migraine prevention since these therapies reduce the number of attacks in the episodic form, resulting also effective in chronic and drug-resistant migraine. Furthermore, despite all these benefits, the number of side effects is very low. The most recent news concerns patients with chronic migraine which has been recognized as a ‘social disease’ by law 18/2020.
“The implementing decrees of law 18/2020 issued by the Ministry of Health – comments Franco Granella, president of Sisc – provide for funding of 10 million euros, for 2023 and 2024, with the aim of carrying out regional projects for the experimentation of methods innovative patient care. By the end of the year, the various healthcare structures will have to present their project proposals to the respective Regions in order to obtain funding and Sisc is trying to help them by developing procedures and formats that can help operators in the implementation of their proposals”.
