History

Migraines are one of the oldest documented illness being described as early as 1200 BCE by the Egyptians. Arataeus of Cappadocia is however the one credited with the discovery of migraines after having extensively described unilateral headaches with aura. Migraines have plagued humans throughout our history with little progress made in the area of treatment and cures. Several treatments have been tried with no avail, including hot irons, bloodletting, inserting garlic into incisions made in the temple and applying opium and vinegar solutions directly to the skull. Some have even gone as far as to perform surgeries such as lobotomies on migraine sufferers. The first known use of medication that has shown some success is use of ergotamine in the 1930s. Ergotamine constricts blood vessels in the brain and has been shown to provide pain relief in some individuals. Many drugs have been researched and experimented with since with little success. The first and currently only class of drugs developed and used solely for the treatment of migraines are Triptans, which were developed in the early 1990s