New migraine drug that could completely dispel symptoms for thousands of sufferers

New drugs being tested for migraine sufferers cut the number of attacks and could help prevent them altogether, according to a leading British specialist.

A treatment called Tonabersat 'turns down' hyperactive nerves, which promote the debilitating headaches.

Another pill - known as NK0974 - lifts the pain for almost half of sufferers within two hours of taking it. Two out of five remain headache-free for at least 24 hours. Doctors say results from U.S.
trials so far suggest the drugs are well tolerated by patients with fewer side effects than currently licensed drugs, but more data is needed on their effectiveness.

Tonabersat works in a different way to existing drugs and is part of a wave of new drugs, called 'gap junction blockers', that moderate the intensity of chemical messengers passed between brain cells.

Scientists believe migraines are set off by over-responsive brain cells, which trigger nerves to release chemicals that irritate and cause blood vessels on the brain's surface to swell.

Professor Peter Goadsby, from the Institute of Neurology in London, said: 'If these U.S. studies are suitably positive this will be a step- change for the good and enable better understanding of migraines.

'We know this drug is well tolerated but the question is does it work?'
Around six million in the UK get migraines, with one in four suffering the most severe type called migraine with aura.

A migraine attack can last between four and 72 hours causing visual disturbances, dizziness, nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. Most sufferers are aged between 30 and 50.

Professor Goadsby said research published earlier this year, which involved 227 patients taking NK0974 or conventional drugs to treat acute migraine attacks, had shown promising results.

Around 45 per cent of those taking the new drug were pain-free after two hours, and the effect was sustained for 40 per cent after 24 hours.

The best result for conventional drugs was one-third pain-free within two hours.
The use of Tonabersat could help patients prevent the onset of an attack, he added.

One of the biggest problems for sufferers was being unable to predict when a migraine would strike, he said.

Yet between one-third and a half of patients could benefit from taking preventive treatment already available.

However, up to half of eligible patients were not being treated either because they were unaware of them or through poor prescribing by GPs or hospital specialists, he said.

UK figures suggest around two million sufferers are currently not getting such preventive drugs.

He said: 'These drugs are underprescribed, probably only half are getting preventive treatment. 'About 20 per cent of sufferers have four or more attacks a month and they would benefit.'

The drug being tested as a treatment for acute attacks is one of a new class known as calcitonin generelated peptide (CGRP) antagonist, which combat chemicals released into the circulation in the brain during an attack.

They work in a different way to existing drugs called triptans, which are designed to increase levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that occurs naturally in the brain.
Experts link migraine attacks with a fall in levels of this chemical.

Triptans appear to block the release and action of CRGP as well, but the new class of drugs has the potential to do it more effectively and with fewer side effects.

It will be at least two years before the new drugs are available here.