Indian women are deemed to be the caretakers of their family. In today's world more women than men have both, a job outside the home and traditional responsibilities after work hours. Over 70% of married women with children are employed outside the home. Sociologists describe women as struggling to achieve the "male standard" at work, while trying to maintain the perfect wife and mother standards at home. Women often find it harder to say 'no' to others' requests and feel guilty if they can't fulfill their responsibilities. In addition, as women progress through different life stages, hormonal imbalances associated with premenstrual, post-partum and menopausal changes can affect chemical vulnerability leading to stress, depression and even migraine. Yes, it's not easy being a woman!

As per reports, one out of every three women suffers from migraine. Migraine refers to a primary headache disorder, which results in recurrent headaches that could be moderate or severe. Migraines are often accompanied by sensory warning signs such as flashes of light, blind spots, tingling in the arms and legs, nausea, vomiting, and increased sensitivity to light and sound.

Not only the real life stress but according to a new study, women are biologically different than men and possess more chances of carrying stress-related cells. A study conducted at Michigan State University, females are more vulnerable to certain stress-related and allergic diseases such as migraines because of distinct differences found in mast cells, a type of white blood cell that is part of the immune system. Mast cells are an important category of immune cells because they play a key role in stress-related health issues that are typically more common in women such as allergic disorders, auto-immune diseases, migraines and irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS.

"Over 8,000 differentially expressed genes were found in female mast cells compared to male mast cells," said lead researcher Adam Moeser, Associate Professor at Michigan State University. "While male and female mast cells have the same sets of genes on their chromosomes, with the exception of the XY sex chromosomes, the way the genes act vary immensely between the sexes," noted Moeser.

An increase in activity that is linked to the production and storage of inflammatory substances was revealed after a further in-depth analysis of the genes within the RNA genome - a primary building block in all forms of life - according to the study published in the Journal Biology of Sex Differences. These substances can create a more aggressive response in the body and result in disease.

"This could explain why women, or men, are more or less vulnerable to certain types of diseases," said Moeser. With this new understanding of how different genes act, scientists could eventually start developing new sex-specific treatments that target these immune cells and stop the onset of disease.

The study explains why women are usually more stressed and prone to stress-related diseases than men. It can be a stepping stone to biologically advance women in order to make them less prone to migraine and other stress related diseases.

Migraine, or extreme headaches, can steal the peace and tranquility from your life. Although it is a genetic disorder, environment, lifestyle, diet and hormonal imbalance also play a large role in how often you get an attack. Individuals suffering from migraine can feel completely drained at times. The fatigue often manifests into a throbbing ache on one or both sides of the head. In extreme cases, patients also experience nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to sound and light and even pressure on their eyes.

According to a study by University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center in 2016, consuming processed foods high in nitrites or monosodium glutamate (MSG) and having too much alcohol can trigger migraine.

Dr Shruti Sharma, bariatric counselor and nutritionist, Jaypee Hospital says. “A migraine is a common disability in adults as well as children and shows female predominance. Unilateral throbbing in the head, which ranges from moderate to severe intensity is a common manifestation of migraine. It’s a chronic headache disorder characterized by recurrent attacks lasting for four to 72 hours of a pulsating quality, moderate or severe intensity, aggravated by routine physical activity and associated with nausea, vomiting, photophobia or phonophobia.”

“Stress, sleep and environmental factors are important trigger factors in women and differ significantly from the factors for men. Trigger factors are frequent in migraine patients, and avoiding them may result in a better control of the disorder. Many women also witness migraine headaches right before or even during menstruation. Some also report hormone-induced migraines during pregnancy or menopause. This is caused due to the change of estrogen levels in women,” says Dr Sharma.

Raising concern on how migraine is more common in metro cities, Dr Joydeep Ghosh, consultant of internal medicine at Fortis Hospital, says, “Excessive amount of stress, work pressure, night life, lack of sleep are much more dominant in metro cities. This results in increased incidence of migraine in the metro population.”

People suffering from migraine often take the help of medicine but apart from that, there are few lifestyle changes too that can control the effect. Regular meals, staying hydrated and consuming at least eight glasses of water in a day, maintaining regular sleep patterns, downsizing stress and curbing caffeine intake can surely help.

Here is a list of dietary changes suggested by experts
* Consume foods rich in magnesium such as green leafy vegetables (spinach and kale), fruits (figs, avocado, banana and raspberries), legumes (black beans, chickpeas and kidney beans), seafood (salmon, mackerel, tuna) and cruciferous vegetables (peas, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, artichokes, asparagus, brussels sprouts).

* Have calcium-rich food such as soybeans, white beans, lentils, almonds, whey protein and food rich in complex carbohydrates, and fibre.

* Have non-citrus fruits like cherries, cranberries, pears, prunes. Consume less of apples, bananas, peaches, and tomatoes.

In a breakthrough, scientists have found an antibody, a monthly dose of which could halve the number of debilitating attacks of migraine on patients who have exhausted all other treatments.

The findings showed that people treated with erenumab were nearly three times more likely to have reduced their migraine days by 50 percent or more than those treated with placebo.

Those treated with erenumab also had a greater average reduction in the number of days they had headaches and the number of days they needed to take drugs to stop the migraines.

"Our study found that erenumab reduced the average number of monthly migraine headaches by more than 50 percent for nearly a third of study participants. That reduction in migraine headache frequency can greatly improve a person's quality of life," said Uwe Reuter from The Charite - University Medicine Berlin in Germany.

Erenumab is a monoclonal antibody that blocks pain signals by targeting a receptor for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).

This peptide transmits migraine pain signals. Erenumab occupies the nerves to which CGRP would usually bind.

"Our results show that people who thought their migraines were difficult to prevent may actually have hope of finding pain relief," Reuter added.

The preliminary results will be presented at the forthcoming American Academy of Neurology's 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

For the study, 246 people who had episodic migraine were given injections of either 140 milligrams of erenumab or a placebo once a month for three months.

Of the participants, 39 per cent had been treated unsuccessfully with two other medications, 38 per cent with three medications and 23 per cent with four medications.

A total of 30 per cent of the people treated with erenumab had half the number of headaches compared to 14 per cent on placebo.

For those on erenumab, there was an average 1.6 times greater reduction in migraine days and a 1.7 times greater reduction in acute medication days compared to those on placebo.

In addition, the safety and tolerability of erenumab was similar to placebo. However, more research is now needed to understand who is most likely to benefit from this new treatment, Reuter said.

HEADACHES CAN BE triggered by any number of factors, including lack of sleep or food, anxiety, or even medications.

But when the pain in your head won't go away, try these remedies, specific to the type you're experiencing.

1. Tension Headache
Symptoms: Pain on both sides of your head. These are the most common type—affecting 70 percent of men—and are usually triggered by extreme stress or neck strain.

Treatment: Over-the-counter drugs are usually all that's needed (aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen). But you may also find relief with a massage to loosen tight neck muscles.

Prevention: Sit up straight at work. Sitting hunched over your desk all day can set it off, especially if you're under stress. Keeping tension headaches at bay may be as simple as a quick walk outside away from the tumult of the office.

2. Migraine
Symptoms: Intense, throbbing pain, usually on one side of your head, accompanied by nausea and/or sensitivity to light or sound. Not fun. It's uncommon for men in their 20s or over to start developing migraines, so if you've never had one before, that pain is probably something different.

Treatment: Prescription meds such as sumatriptan are most helpful. So is rest in a quiet, dark room.

Prevention: Identify and eliminate your triggers (the most common are red wine, cheese, and caffeine). Regular exercise has also been shown to reduce frequency and severity.

3. Cluster Headache
Symptoms: A sharp pain behind one eye that strikes suddenly, and goes away just as quickly. The headaches come in groups — or clusters — and can reoccur for days or months. Cluster headaches are rare, affecting less than 1% of adult, but men in their 20s are more likely to get them.

Treatment: Oxygen therapy has been shown to help alleviate the pain. You also may want to get checked for sleep apnea — up to 80% of cluster headache sufferers also have the condition, and treating one may help eliminate the other.

Prevention: They are hard to predict, but there are several drugs, including Sansert (methysergide maleate), that your doc may recommend as a preventive measure.

When symptoms of a migraine creep up but you don't have the telltale head pain, you may be confused. Here's how to figure out what's going on.

What is a silent migraine?
Not every migraine is obvious. In fact, there are some surprising signs of an impending attack. And while a “silent migraine” isn’t an official medical term, patients sometimes use it to describe when they get a migraine aura (more on that in a minute) but don’t suffer from the accompanying head pain, explains John Rothrock, MD, a professor of neurology.

Understanding a migraine aura
One-quarter of migraine sufferers experiences an aura—a visual, sensory, or speech disturbance—before their migraine. You may see spots, lights, or zigzags, feel numbness or tingling in one arm, or have trouble speaking, notes the American Migraine Foundation. About a half hour later, the traditional unilateral head pain known as a migraine typically hits.

The bright side: it’s usually temporary
It’s a relief to know that auras are only temporary and the symptoms disappear within an hour—often within 15 to 20 minutes. Rarely though, some people may suffer from continuous auras. That may mean you have them throughout the day or they stick around longer than the norm, explains University of Arizona neurology professor John Wall, MD.

How to treat a silent migraine
Ask yourself how often they appear and how much they affect your quality of life: “If they’re infrequent, short, and non-disabling, I wouldn’t treat the aura itself,” says Dr. Wall. If they are persistent, you may benefit from preventative migraine drugs, but they won’t help everyone, says Dr. Wall. He adds that in some instances, off-label use of anti-epileptic medications may work because they stabilize the function of brain cells.

Have a plan in place
The first time you have an aura can be frightening—you have no clue what’s going on. Being ready with your medications (OTC or Rx’s) in the event head pain hits is the best be-ready strategy,