7 o'clock in the morning. The alarm clock rings. But instead of getting up, the pain tightens again like a vice around your head. Light hurts, sounds too. Anyone who knows migraines knows that this is no ordinary headache. Two out of three adults in Germany suffer from headaches at least some of the time. Around 18 million of them are affected by migraines. Despite this, many do not receive treatment that really suits their situation. A new research project aims to change this. The University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden is involved in it.
The project is called MIGRA-MD. It is testing a structured treatment for migraine patients that combines various forms of therapy and uses digital aids. Over the next year and a half, 1,000 sufferers across Germany are expected to take part. The project is being funded by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) with over five million euros. It is being led by LMU Klinikum München.
"This project with its multimodal approach and use of digital applications has the potential to significantly improve the care of people with migraines," says Prof. Gudrun Goßrau, Head of the Headache Center at Dresden University Hospital.
Who can participate?
Participation is open to people with statutory health insurance who regularly have between four and 25 headache days per month. In addition, no more than two preventive medications may have been tried so far without success. Patients from the Dresden and East Saxony region can be treated at the Headache Center at Dresden University Hospital. Participants are randomly assigned to a group. One starts treatment immediately, the other only three months later. This procedure is called randomization. It ensures that the results of the study are scientifically reliable.
The Coordination Center for Clinical Trials at TU Dresden is supervising the study. "We are pleased to contribute to good data quality with our work so that meaningful study results can be achieved," says its director Dr. Xina Grählert. If the study shows clear improvements - for example in the frequency of headaches or the stress in everyday life - the new model could be adopted in normal medical care in the future. Many migraine sufferers would benefit from this in the long term.
Further information on the project can be found here.
