migraine
Latest
Zelrix electronic anti-migraine patch heads to the FDA for review
We've seen some electronic devices that promise to cure migraines in the past, but NuPathe's Zelrix patch certainly seems to be among the most practical, and it's just gotten one step closer to the US market. The company recently announced that the FDA has accepted its filing for a New Drug Application, and it says it now has a target date of August 29, 2011 for the FDA to complete its review. As for the patch itself, it's a single-use patch that relies on a mild electrical current to "actively transport" the anti-migraine drug sumatriptan through the skin using a process called iontophoresis. That, NuPathe says, not only allows for a more consistent and controlled delivery of the drug, but it also circumvents the nausea and vomiting that can occur when taking the medication orally -- which the company notes can be enough to cause some folks to avoid taking the medication altogether. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
Migraine zapper stops headaches before they start
The BBC reports that a group of researchers lead by Dr. Yousef Mohammad of Ohio State University Medical Center have developed a device that can stop migraine pain at the first signs of a headache -- and, no, it doesn't work by clobbering someone over the head with it. The device, called the TMS, actually works by creating a short-lived electromagnetic field that interrupts the "aura phase" of a migraine before it leads to a serious headache. The researchers also say that they device can be effective in treating nausea, and noise and light sensitivity, but that further study is necessary before the device gets put into widespread use. Still, the early results look fairly encouraging, with 69% of the patients treated with the TMS reporting mild or no pain, compared to 48% of those in the placebo group. Stranger still, however, is the 2% of the control group who experienced exploding-headitis when using this device. Eh, go figure.
