Diseases & Conditions
Are the new migraine medications working?
Doctors say three recently approved migraine prevention drugs are helping people have fewer headaches.
For people with frequent, debilitating migraine headaches, 2018 brought encouraging news. The FDA approved three new medications — erenumab (Aimovig), fremanezumab (Ajovy), and galcanezumab (Emgality) — the first drugs designed specifically to prevent migraines and reduce their frequency, intensity, and duration.
It was a big development, since other medications used to stop migraines were created to control other conditions, such as seizures, depression, high blood pressure, or an irregular heartbeat. But their side effects (such as weight gain, dizziness, or fuzzy thinking) often cause people to skip treatment.
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