A Guide to Migraine-Prevention Drugs

Most people who can be helped by medicines to prevent migraines don’t take them, a new report says. The report offers guidelines for treatment. About 40% of people with migraines can be helped by preventive medicines, one author of the guidelines told HealthDay News. They can reduce the number of migraines by half. They can also help make the migraines shorter and less severe. But only about one-third of those who can benefit are taking the medicines, the author said. The guidelines were based on 29 studies of drug treatment for migraines. All of them compared the medicines with placebo (fake) pills. Two main groups of drugs were found to help. They are anti-seizure medicines and beta-blockers (also used for high blood pressure). Frovatriptan (Frova) can help prevent migraines around the time of the menstrual period.