Misery loves company

I decided a long time ago that migraines are one of the most evil of creations. For anyone that suffers from them, you know what I'm talking about. Well, on the "Today Show" the other day they did a segment on migraines and, because misery does indeed love company, I thought I'd post some of the interesting factoids:

• Thirty million people in the United States get migraines. If you don’t get them, you certainly know someone who does: One in ten people in this country is a migraineur (a person who gets migraines), and one in four American households include a migraineur.

• Migraine is the ninth-leading cause of disability among women, and the nineteenth most-common disability in the world, more common than diabetes or asthma.

• It’s also one of the most painful and debilitating. The throbbing head pain and nausea can knock you out of commission, sometimes for days. More than 76 percent of migraineurs have had to postpone planned activities with children and other loved ones because of migraine sickness, and 50 percent say they can’t do anything at all but lie in their beds during an attack. (that'd be me!)

• Migraine runs up more than $1 billion a year in health costs and at least $13 billion in losses to industry due to absenteeism and reduced effectiveness at work.

Wow! My other favorite migraine study that I read recently was about a potential link between Botox injections and migraine prevention. So, perhaps if they perfect that link one day I can be migraine and wrinkle free :)