New push to help Australians who suffer from migraines

Australians who suffer from migraines could benefit from new international guidelines aimed at improving treatment for the crippling condition.

Sydney's George Institute for Global Health says a new migraine treatment recommendation suggests raising the target reduction of migraine days from the current standard of 50 per cent to 90 or even 100 per cent.

Traditionally, a 50 per cent reduction in migraine days per month - or even 30 per cent reduction for those with chronic or harder-to-treat symptoms - was the benchmark for a successful response to therapies.

READ MORE: What happens in the brain when you get a migraine | Explainer

In Australia, around 4.9 million people live with migraine, and 72 per cent are women.

It costs the nation an estimated $35.7 billion per year.

"It was time for new recommendations that will bring us closer to managing migraine as a disease that can be controlled in a similar way to epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other chronic conditions," Dr Faraidoon Haghdoost, a research fellow in headache disorders at The George Institute for Global Health, said.

"The consistency of new agents in multiple clinical trials and real-world studies to achieve effective and sustained migraine prevention means we can offer more hope for eliminating disability from migraine and for sufferers to be able to live free from constant worry about the next attack, the debilitating pain, and the frustration of not being taken seriously.

"We can now strive for much better results."

Haghdoost was one of the contributors to the International Headache Society (IHS) position statement, published in a medical journal.

The IHS advocates for the higher goals based on the positive impact of new treatment advancements.

In Australia, patients need to record at least 15 headache days per month to qualify for PBS reimbursement of the newer therapies.

READ MORE: US sides with Russia at UN on Ukraine war in seismic shift

"Expanding the criteria to capture those with fewer than 15 headache days would lead to better results in line with new recommended international practice, and reduce the burden on patients and the healthcare system," Haghdoost said.