Eight out of ten people who took part in a study carried out by a specialist headache centre felt they were much less effective at work and 91 per cent said they felt hampered by headaches on a daily basis, according to the March issue of Cephalalgia.

A University of Iowa study may provide an explanation for why some people get migraine headaches while others do not. The researchers found that too much of a small protein called RAMP1 appears to "turn up the volume" of a nerve cell receptor's response to a neuropeptide thought to cause migraines.

Five years ago, Sharon Schafer Bennett suffered from migraines so severe that the headaches disrupted her life, kept her from seeking a job and interfered with participation in her children's daily activities.

Scientists at the University of Vermont have clarified the cellular process responsible for signaling regional blood flow changes in the brain, thereby uncovering possible causes for such disorders as stroke, migraine, and Alzheimer's disease. The study was published November 1, 2006 in the prestigious journal Nature Neuroscience.