The Medical Community, Migraine Patients And The General Public To Coalesce In The Fight For Funding Of Opioid Alternatives

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I., June 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Migraine Disorders is calling for health professionals, the 37 million Americans who suffer from migraines and the general public to acknowledge the widespread impact of migraine, a disease of the nervous system, on June 21 and to urge Congress to fund research for non-addictive alternatives to opioids for migraine sufferers.

"Migraine disease is estimated to be responsible for 9 percent of all U.S. lost labor productivity and causes millions of days lost from school," reports Dr. Frederick Godley, president of the Association of Migraine Disorders.  "We're urging people to support funding of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (P.L. 114-198) which was passed in 2016 and supports the study of non-addictive alternatives to opioids."

The World Health Organization (WHO) found in its Global Burden of Disease survey of 310 diseases that, on average, someone who lives with migraine disease loses two and half years of healthy life. By this standard, migraine emerged as the third highest cause of disability in the world for people less than 50 years old.  Roughly four million Americans are afflicted with a chronic, debilitating form of this neurovascular disease, making it vital to find alternatives to opioids for pain relief.

A new coalition of migraine-related organizations is calling on people to stand together on June 21, World Migraine Solidarity Day, by participating in the Shades For Migraine campaign. The objective is two-fold.  It is a chance for all who suffer from migraine disease --and those that want to support them-- to wear a pair of sunglasses to visually demonstrate their compassion for this widely diverse disorder. Additionally, it is a new effort to consolidate the migraine resources available where anyone can receive support, become better educated, find ways to become involved or donate.  The website shadesformigraine.org allows people to view more than twenty organizations and blogs with different migraine-related missions. 

"Now is the time to focus our advocacy efforts through two political advocacy groups that are participating in the campaign– the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy and the Headache and Migraine Policy Forum," said Alicia Torborg, executive director of the Association.  "They work to make the voices of those affected by migraine heard on Capitol Hill."

"Investment in migraine research has the potential to be the cornerstone of our national effort to advance neuroscience.  It will also shed new light into the other common, disabling diseases that are associated and probably functionally linked to migraine, such as anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, colic, gastric and pelvic pains, sleep disorders, tinnitus, and post-concussion headaches," said Dr. Godley. By contrast, the Trump administration is proposing a 12 percent reduction in federal research funding.

The Association of Migraine Disorders is a nonprofit organization with a mission to end the suffering from migraine illness through research, education and collaboration. The organization is committed to developing unique, high-quality informational materials, videos and clinical tools to help a broad range of medical professionals learn how to recognize and treat migraine disorders. AMD is also dedicated to providing information and support for migraine sufferers, and to raising the public consciousness about the impact of this devastating disease.

SOURCE The Association of Migraine Disorders