Migraine is a neurological ailment that has many symptoms. The main symptom is headache and more women than men suffer from migraine. Throbbing ache on one side of the head accompanied by nausea and vomiting that can last from a few hours to even days. Patients also suffer from sensitivity to bright light and sound, and many experience a phenomenon known as aura, where an unpleasant light or smell precedes the other symptoms. Migraine attack is recurrent and the aura may or may not accompany each bout. It has also been noticed that aura need not necessarily be followed by a headache; the symptoms of aura can been visual, sensory or speech problems like dysphasia and can last up to an hour.

Mild headache will not hinder day to day activities, but if the headache is severe daily life is affected. Migraine though generally not very harmful, the Basilar type migraine can cause coma, stroke or even death. Abdominal migraine occurs in children, who suffer from severe spells of stomach ache, nausea and vomiting. Most of them will have headache too as they grow up, and the stomach aches gradually disappear in adulthood. One who suffers from Acephalgic migraine may display photophobia and phonophobia, nausea and other aura symptoms without headache, and they are likely to suffer from the usual migraine with a headache as well.

Other than aura and pain phases there are also prodorme and postdorme phases that occur before and after the attack respectively. These phases are characterized by irritability, mood swings, depression etc. and do not occur in everyone. Visual aura is very common and is quite disturbing, with flashy or scintillating lights, lights are either colorful or black and white, and sometimes a blurred vision. The ache starts slowly and peaks, it can occur or one or both sides of the head, and sometimes start on one side and spreads to the other. The pain can last up to 72 hours in adults.

Migraine can occur due to chemical changes in the brain in connection with menstruation, hypothyroidism, and sometimes even stress. Studies show that either vascular or neurological, or both reasons combined together could cause the disease. The ailment is very common, and anything and everything can trigger migraine. However the usual triggers are hormonal activities during menstruation, allergies, sensitivity to certain sounds, smells, light or food, lack of sleep or any kind of stress. Certain chemicals in food like tyramine or monosodium glutamate, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, dairy products etc. can also precipitate migraine headaches.

Migraine is treated in more than one way. The treatments could be partially or fully effective, or can even fail completely. The patients can avoid the trigger or take preventive medicines. Each symptom is separately controlled using either drugs, or avoiding triggers with a carefully planned diet, or using both.