In National Migraine and Headache awareness month, a Guernsey Doctor is to study at Europe’s leading centre for headache disorders.
IslandHealth’s Dr Michael Long, GP partner at the Practice will start a two year course Masters in Headache Disorders at the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Headache Centre.
Dr Michael Long (pictured), GP Partner at IslandHealth with a special interest in headache and migraine and GP headache specialist at the National Migraine Centre says: “Migraine affects 1 in 7 people which means that more than 9000 patients in Guernsey will have this condition. However it remains undiagnosed and untreated in at least 50% of patients, and less than 50% of migraine patients consult a doctor.
“I am passionate about spreading awareness about this debilitating condition and improving the care for migraine patients both through my work with the National Migraine Centre and at IslandHealth”
What is Migraine?
Migraine is a complex neurological disease that has been identified as the leading cause of years lived with disability in the under 50s and this means it has a huge socio-economic impact. It is estimated that 43 million days in the UK from work & education are lost each year because of migraine.
Although Migraine often starts around puberty it mostly affects adults in their working years. However, it can also be present in children and the elderly. Infantile Colic in children is thought to be a migraine derivative, older children commonly present with recurrent abdominal pain and in females it commonly gets much worse around the peri-menopause.
Often, simple lifestyle modifications can have a huge beneficial impact for migraine sufferers if this is correctly identified as the problem. In recent years there has been lots of exciting new developments in both acute and preventative migraine treatment.
The National Migraine Centre is a charity based in the UK with over 40 years experience of treating people with migraine. They have launched their ‘Change a life forever’ fundraising campaign to coincide with Migraine Awareness Month.
Main photo credit: Karl Taylor.
