What Cause Migraine Headache?

Monica Seles, a tennis champion who won nine Grand Slams and fifty-three singles titles during her career says “I started getting migraines when I was about 15 or 16. As a teenager I didn’t know what was wrong really so I went undiagnosed for about seven years. There’s nothing worse. If you haven’t had a migraine, I don’t think you understand how bad they are.”

Nobody know the exact causes of migraines. There are theories that can explain what causes migraine headache.

The most common type of vascular headache is migraine headache. A vascular headache is a condition where the rapid changes (constriction and dilation) of the diameter and the chemistry of blood vessels of the brain produce pain. These changes cause blood vessels of the brain to swell and then become inflamed. This sparks off throbbing head pain.

For many years, scientists believed that the expansion and constriction of blood vessels of the brain cause migraine headaches. However, headache researches now perceive that the blood vessels are not the primary effect and do not contribute to migraine itself. They notice that the swollen blood vessels around the brain apply pressure on the nearby nerves which induce headache.

It is still a mystery how and why blood vessels dilate. However, a number of recent findings may explain this puzzle.

Based on the findings, some chemical signals activate the pain sensor in the trigeminal nerve system, a major pain pathway in your nervous system. The trigeminal nerves then release protein substances called neuropeptides, which travel to your brain's outer layer, to expand the blood vessels. The swollen blood vessels further irritate the trigeminal nerve, leaving headache.

Headache researchers believe the imbalances in brain chemicals, including serotonin, a neurotransmitter that send signals in the brain cells, passes through trigeminal nerve system. During a migraine attack, the serotonin levels drop. They cause blood vessels to become dilated and inflamed which initiate head pain.