Diagnosis Of Symptoms
Migraine And Auras Symptoms
Migraines come with and without auras. Neither can be
said to be less painful than the other, though the aura-less may be less
stressful and frightening. Although migraines are often associated with
auras, in fact only about 20% of migraine sufferers actually experience
any of the symptoms of aura. The aura stage is part of the complex
migraine, following the prodome stage. The aura stage usually lasts less
than half an hour and its symptoms and effects can vary tremendously
from one migraine sufferer to the next. Depending upon how extreme these
symptoms get, the aura stage can become something quite horrifying, like
a bad dream or, worse, a movie sequence of a bad dream.
The aura is all about distortions in perception. Despite the
connotation of aura as a visual component, symptoms associated with
auras not limited to specifically visual distortions. Characteristics
associated with auras can include:
flashing lights
wavy or zigzagging lines
spots or other shapes
blind spots or partial loss of sight
blurry vision
olfactory hallucinations, or the smelling of aromas that aren’t really there
tingling feeling or numbness about the face or extremities on the side where the headache develops.
difficult speaking or forming words
confusion
vertigo
partial and temporary paralysis
decrease in or loss of hearing
reduced sensation
hypersensitivity to feel and touch
The aura is caused by changes taking place within the outermost layer of the brain, the cortex.
With the depression of activity in the nerve cells,
there is a resulting impairment in the function of the body part that is
controlled by those cells. A slow spread in the depression of nerve cell
activity is theorized to be the cause of the development of aura. The
symptoms gradually build up and slowly make their way from one visual
region or one body part to another.
For the migraine patient, this means the appearances of a black spot arising in
his field of vision. The black spot may also be encompassed by either flashing lights
or bright lines that zig and zag back and forth. The black spot will
slowly—over a period of a few minutes—grow slightly larger. It is this
unusual and often disturbing combination of a vision loss with
accompanying flashing lights or zigzagging lines that distinguishes the
typical migraine aura’s so-called “positive” symptoms.
It is this combination of so-called “negative symptoms” such as the loss of
vision with the “positive symptoms” such as zigzagging lines that make
up the typically distinctive features of a migraine aura. The vision
blackouts—the negative symptom—are caused by a depression of nerve
activity. On the other hand, the zigzagging lines are caused by
hyperactivity in the nerve cells. The origin of this sequence of
neurological events leading to auras and headaches is still unknown.
What is known, however, is that those suffering from migraines have been
found to have an ingrained susceptibility to factors that generally are
not headache triggers. In people with migraine, changes in body
chemistry, such as menstruation, certain foods, and dozens of
environmental influences, such as a change in weather, may trigger an
attack.
In order to be officially designated as a migraine with
aura, the headache sufferer is required to have had at least two
headaches with three out of four of the following:
One or more aura symptom that originated in the cerebral cortex or brain stem.
At least one aura symptom that developed gradually over more than four
minutes. Or, at least two or more aura symptoms occurring in succession.
No single aura symptom that lasts for more than an hour. (However, it is
perfectly acceptable should there be successive symptoms of which extend
that time, but each individual symptom should last no more than an hour).
The headache itself may begin before, at the same time, or at an interval of
no more than an hour after the hour.