EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2024
MINNEAPOLIS – A drug recently approved to prevent migraine may start working right away, according to a study published in the December 23, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at the drug atogepant, which is a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist taken by mouth.
“With many current drugs to prevent migraine, it takes time to find the right dosage for the individual and it can take weeks or even months for it to be most effective,” said study author Richard B. Lipton, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “Some people give up and stop taking the drugs before they reach this point. Plus, many people experience side effects with current treatments. Developing a drug that works both effectively and quickly is critical.”
In the study, people taking the drug atogepant were less likely to have a migraine on the first day of taking the drug 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 taking a placebo.
For this study, researchers looked at the data from three trials on the safety and effectiveness of atogepant over 12 weeks to focus on how rapidly improvements appeared. The ADVANCE trial, which enrolled people with episodic migraine, had 222 people taking the drug and 214 taking placebo. The ELEVATE trial, which enrolled people with episodic migraine who had previously not responded well to other oral preventive treatments, had 151 on the drug and 154 on placebo. The PROGRESS trial, which enrolled people with chronic migraine, had 256 on the drug and 246 on placebo.
People with episodic migraine experience up to 14 migraine days per month. People with chronic migraine experience at least 15 days with headache per month, with at least eight days being characteristic of migraine.
On the first day of the study, 12% of those taking the drug in the first trial, the ADVANCE trial had a migraine, compared to 25% of those taking placebo. In the second trial, the ELEVATE trial, the numbers were 15% and 26%. For the third trial, the PROGRESS trial, the numbers were 51% and 61%.
When researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect the rate of migraine, 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 in the third trial.
For the first two trials, the people taking atogepant had an average of one fewer day with migraine per week, compared to an average of less than one-half day fewer per week for those taking the placebo. For the third trial, average migraine days per week declined by about 1.5 days for those taking the drug compared to about one day for those taking the placebo.
The people taking atogepant also showed improvement on assessments of how much migraine impaired their activities and their overall quality of life compared to people taking the placebo.
“Migraine is the second-leading cause of disability in the overall population and the leading cause of disability in young women, with people reporting negative effects on their relationships, parenting, career and finances,” Lipton said. “Having a treatment that can act quickly and effectively addresses a key need.”
A limitation of the study is that it involved mostly female and white participants, so the results may not apply to the overall population.
The study was supported by AbbVie, the maker of atogepant.
Discover more about migraine at BrainandLife.org, from the American Academy of Neurology. This resource also offers a magazine, podcast, and books that connect patients, caregivers and anyone interested in brain health with the most trusted information, straight from the world’s leading experts in brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, X and Instagram.
The American Academy of Neurology is the leading voice in brain health. As the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals with more than 40,000 members, the AAN provides access to the latest news, science and research affecting neurology for patients, caregivers, physicians and professionals alike. The AAN’s mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all. A neurologist is a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis, care and treatment of brain, spinal cord and nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, concussion, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, headache and migraine.
Explore the latest in neurological disease and brain health, from the minds at the AAN at AAN.com or find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
END
New drug to prevent migraine may start working right away
2024-12-23
(Press-News.org)
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Good news for people with MS: COVID-19 infection not tied to worsening symptoms
2024-12-23
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2024
MINNEAPOLIS – For people with multiple sclerosis (MS), having a COVID-19 infection is not associated with worsening MS symptoms or disability, according to a study published in the December 23, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Infections may be associated with more disability among people with MS,” said study author Amber Salter, PhD, of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, ...
Department of Energy announces $179 million for Microelectronics Science Research Centers
2024-12-23
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $179 million in funding for three Microelectronics Science Research Centers (MSRCs). These three MSRCs will perform basic research in microelectronics materials, device and system design, and manufacturing science to transform future microelectronics technologies. The MSRCs were authorized by the Micro Act, passed in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and complement the activities appropriated under the CHIPS and Science Act at the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, and other agencies.
For decades, DOE has been at ...
Human-related activities continue to threaten global climate and productivity
2024-12-23
The pace at which anthropogenic climate change has altered the terrestrial carbon stores is making our current climate-change mitigation efforts seem fruitless, unless behaviors are quickly changed.
Climate change induced by human behaviors, or anthropogenic climate change, has been a hot topic for decades and is not going away. As with any problem, reviewing datasets from the past to analyze trends and garner information is one of the first steps towards a solution. Gross primary productivity, or GPP, is a key indicator of the overall health of an ecosystem and is the amount of CO2 fixed by plants per unit of time and area. Researchers ...
Public shows greater acceptance of RSV vaccine as vaccine hesitancy appears to have plateaued
2024-12-23
PHILADELPHIA – A year after becoming available, vaccines to protect against RSV in newborns and older adults are being more widely accepted by the American public, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) health survey conducted in November 2024.
Over half of U.S. adults (52%) think the vaccine given to pregnant individuals to protect their infants from RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is effective, up from 42% in October 2023, soon after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the vaccine. And 61% say the RSV vaccine for adults age 60 and older is effective, up from 54% ...
Unraveling the power and influence of language
2024-12-23
A choice was made to include each word in this sentence. Every message, even the most mundane, is crafted with a specific frame in mind that impacts how the message is perceived.
The study of framing effects is a multidisciplinary line of research that investigates when, how, and why language influences those who receive a message and how it impacts their response.
This multifaceted science is in the spotlight in the latest issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Stephen Flusberg of Vassar College and his team provide a comprehensive review of ...
Gene editing tool reduces Alzheimer’s plaque precursor in mice
2024-12-23
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new gene editing tool that helps cellular machinery skip parts of genes responsible for diseases has been applied to reduce the formation of amyloid-beta plaque precursors in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report.
The application in live mice shows the improved efficiency of the tool, called SPLICER, over the current standard in gene editing technology, as well as the potential for application in other diseases, the researchers said. Led by Pablo Perez-Pinera, a professor of bioengineering at ...
TNF inhibitors prevent complications in kids with Crohn's disease, recommended as first-line therapies
2024-12-23
Early treatment of pediatric Crohn’s disease with anti-tumor necrosis factor medications can substantially reduce the risk of perianal fistulas, a particularly debilitating complication of Crohn’s disease.
Michigan Medicine researchers confirmed this finding using prospective data.
The resulting paper, “Early tumour necrosis factor antagonist treatment prevents perianal fistula development in children with Crohn’s disease: Post-hoc analysis of the RISK study,” appeared in Gut.
A previous retrospective study from the same team had established a link between early treatment and reduced likelihood of perianal fistulas.
That research, however, ...
Twisted Edison: Bright, elliptically polarized incandescent light
2024-12-23
ANN ARBOR—Bright, twisted light can be produced with technology similar to an Edison light bulb, researchers at the University of Michigan have shown. The finding adds nuance to fundamental physics while offering a new avenue for robotic vision systems and other applications for light that traces out a helix in space.
"It's hard to generate enough brightness when producing twisted light with traditional ways like electron or photon luminescence," said Jun Lu, an adjunct research investigator in chemical engineering at U-M and first author of the study on the cover of this week's Science.
"We ...
Structural cell protein also directly regulates gene transcription
2024-12-23
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A cell protein previously believed only to provide a scaffolding for DNA has also been shown to directly influence DNA transcription into RNA – the first step of the process by which an organism’s genetic code expresses itself. The fundamental breakthrough was discovered in apple cells but is relevant to all living organisms made of nucleus-containing cells, including humans.
The finding, published Dec. 20 in Plant Cell, was co-authored by Cornell researchers and colleagues from the University of California, Davis, and Shandong Agricultural University in Shandong, China.
Every cell in an organism ...
Breaking boundaries: Researchers isolate quantum coherence in classical light systems
2024-12-23
Understanding the boundary between classical and quantum physics has long been a central question in science. While thermal light fields have traditionally been viewed as classical, the team fragmented these fields into smaller multiphoton subsystems. Surprisingly, they uncovered quantum coherence—features such as particle interference previously thought unique to quantum systems—within a classical light source.
By using a sophisticated technique involving photon-number-resolving detection and orbital angular momentum (OAM) measurements, the researchers projected a classical pseudothermal light field into isolated multiphoton ...