Migraine is a form of vascular headache, the symptoms of which
can include intense throbbing pain that is generally limited to one
side of the head, photophobia (sensitivity to light), phonophobia
(sensitivity to sound), visual disturbances, and nausea. Combined,
these symptoms can significantly affect a patient’s daily routine.
According to the National Headache Foundation, over 29.5 million
Americans suffer from migraine, and women are almost three times
more affected than men. Lifting the Burden, a global campaign to
reduce the burden of headache worldwide, states in a press release
that one in nine, or 11% of people worldwide get migraines.
Migraines can often be misdiagnosed by health care providers as
tension headache or sinus headache, and as such, may not be treated
properly. There is a suspected genetic component, as more than 70%
of patients with migraine have a family history of it. Special
Topics has examined the literature on migraine over the past decade.
Other types of vascular headache, most notably cluster headaches,
are also touched upon in this analysis.
Prevalent research themes over the past decade include
development of practice parameters; clinical trials using agents
such as topiramate, triptans, and even BOTOX; prevalence and burdens
as laid out in the American Migraine Study II and Genetic
Epidemiology of Migraine (GEM) analyses; brain changes in migraine;
mechanisms for aura; possible genetic connections; an associate
between migraine and cutaneous allodynia; and the risk of stroke in
women with migraine. There are also two large-scale reviews on
migraine.
Over the past two years, the themes are much the same. New
therapies being investigated include acupuncture and prophylaxis
with coenzyme Q10. PET studies of brain stem activity are also
reported. Two papers detailing the relief of migraine by
transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale in patients with
paradoxical cerebral embolism are among the top 20 papers published
in the past two years. There are also multiple papers on the risk of
stroke in women with migraine. Named trials discussed include the
GEM and Cerebral Abnormalities in Migraine, an Epidemiological Risk
Analysis (CAMERA) studies.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on title-supplied keywords for
Migraine & Other Vascular Headaches. The keywords used were as follows:
migraine* OR
"primary headache*" OR "idiopathic headache*" OR "cluster headache*"
OR "vascular headache*"
The baseline time span for this database
is 1997-August 31, 2007 (fourth bimonthly period in 2007). The resulting database contained
3,909 (10 years)
and 1,149 (2 years) papers; 8,163 authors;
69 countries; 537 journals; and 2,979 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two- and ten-year
periods), authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1997-August 31, 2007 (fourth bimonthly, a 10-year plus
eight-month period).
The top 20 papers are ranked
according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution,
and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total
papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds and corresponding
percentages used to determine
scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to
total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows:
| Entity: |
Scientists |
Institutions |
Countries |
Journals |
| Thresholds: |
17 |
33 |
5 |
9 |
| Percentage: |
1% |
1% |
50% |
10% |
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