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Innovative treatment breaks chronic migraine cycle

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New York: People suffering from chronic migraine may soon heave a sigh of relief as researchers have found promise in a minimally invasive innovative treatment.

Administering the common anaesthetic lidocaine via the nose to certain nerves associated with migraines offers chronic migraine sufferers sustained relief from their headaches, the findings showed.

Although not a complete cure for migraines, the treatment called image-guided, intranasal sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) blocks give patients relief, the researchers said.

“Intranasal sphenopalatine ganglion blocks are image-guide, targeted, breakthrough treatments,” said lead researcher Kenneth Mandato from Albany Medical Center in New York.

“They offer a patient-centered therapy that has the potential to break the migraine cycle and quickly improve patients’ quality of life,” Mandato said.

The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 112 patients suffering migraine or cluster headaches.

Patients reported the severity of their headaches on a visual analogue scale (VAS), ranging from 1 to 10 to quantify the degree of debilitation experienced from migraine.

Researchers administered four percent lidocaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion, a nerve bundle just behind the nose associated with migraines.

Before treatment, patients reported an average VAS score of 8.25, with scores greater than four at least 15 days per month.

The day after SPG block patients’ VAS scores were cut in half, to an average of 4.10.

Thirty days after the procedure, patients reported an average score of 5.25, a 36 percent decrease from pretreatment. Additionally, 88 percent patients indicated that they required less or no migraine medication for ongoing relief.

“Administration of lidocaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion acts as a ‘reset button’ for the brain’s migraine circuitry,” Mandato said.

Patients can have SPG block repeated, if needed, Mandato added.

The findings are scheduled to be presented at the ongoing Society of Interventional Radiology’s 40th Annual Scientific Meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

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Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

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