Assistant Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School/Mass General Brigham/Atrius Health Harvard Medical School Sharon, Massachusetts
Headache disorders are highly underdiagnosed, and thus a diagnosis for which most people do not receive adequate treatment. Treatment strategies including trigger avoidance, lifestyle coaching, abortive medications, preventative medications, and procedural interventions will be discussed. Included in the therapeutics section will be some of the newer treatments that target calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) including monoclonal antibody therapy for prevention and small molecule CGRP antagonists (gepants) for abortive/preventive therapy. Finally, there will be a discussion of “Top 10” pitfalls that occur when managing patients with headache disorders and case studies.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the pharmacological options for the abortive treatment of headache disorders.
Discuss the concept of medication overuse headache and risk factors for developing this disorder.
Discuss pharmacological options for the preventative treatment of headache disorders and when to consider initiating preventative treatment.
Describe the role of calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) in migraine pathophysiology and how CGRP based therapies can be effective for the treatment of migraine.
