A recently approved medication to prevent migraine, atogepant, is capable of preventing the symptoms of a migraine attack in the first place.
It is an antagonist of the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, which according to a study published in ‘Neurology‘, is effective from day one.
Many of the current medications to prevent migraine do not begin to be effective for a few weeks, “or even months,” says study author Richard B. Lipton, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx of New York (USA.).
“Some people give up and stop taking the medications before reaching this point. Additionally, many people experience side effects with current treatments. “Developing a drug that works effectively and quickly is essential.”
In the study, people taking the drug atogepant were less likely to have a migraine on the first day of treatment compared to those taking a placebo.
They also had fewer migraines per week during each of the first four weeks of the study and fewer migraines during the study overall than those who took a placebo.
Researchers analyzed data from three trials on the safety and effectiveness of atogepant for 12 weeks to focus on how quickly improvements appeared.
Episodic migraine
In the first, people with episodic migraine participated: 222 people took the drug and 214 took a placebo. The second, which involved people with episodic migraine who had not previously responded well to other oral preventive treatments, had 151 people take the drug and 154 take a placebo. The third, which involved people with chronic migraines, included 256 people who took the drug and 246 who took a placebo.
People with episodic migraine They experience up to 14 days of migraine per month. People with chronic migraine experience at least 15 days of headache per month, of which at least eight days are characteristic of migraine.
On the first day of the study, 12% of those who took the drug in the first trial had a migraine, compared to 25% of those who took placebo. In the second trial, the figures were 15% and 26%. In the third trial, the figures were 51% and 61%.
When the researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect migraine rates, they found that people taking the drug were 61% less likely to have a migraine in the first trial, 47% less likely in the second trial, and 37% less likely to have a migraine in the second trial. % less likely on the third trial.
In the first two trials, people who took atogepant They had an average of one less migraine day per week, compared to an average of less than half a day less per week for those taking the placebo. In the third trial, average migraine days per week decreased by about 1.5 days for those taking the drug compared to about one day for those taking the placebo.
Those people who took atogepant also showed an improvement in assessments of how much their migraine affected their activities and overall quality of life, compared with people who took the placebo.
“Migraine is the second leading cause of disability in the general population and the leading cause of disability in young women, and sufferers report that it has negative effects on their relationships, ability to raise children, careers and finances,” says Lipton. . “Having a treatment that can act quickly and effectively meets a key need.”
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