New migraine drugs are game changers for some patients | Science News

Hayley Gudgin of Sammamish, Wash., got her first migraine in 1991 when she was a 19-year-old nursing student.

"I was convinced I was having a brain hemorrhage," she says. "There was no way anything could be that painful and not be really serious."

She retreated to her bed and woke up feeling better the next day. But it wasn't long until another migraine hit. And another. Taking a pill that combines caffeine with the pain relievers acetaminophen and codeine made life manageable until she got pregnant and had to stop taking her medication. After her son was born, the migraines came back. She started taking the drugs again, but they didn't work and actually made her attacks worse.

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https://www.sciencenews.org/article/migraine-headache-new-drugs-block-brain-chemical?

Gene-silencing injection reverses pain in mice | Science | AAAS

Swallowing an oxycodone pill might quiet nerves and blunt pain, but the drug makes other unwanted visits in the brain—to centers that can drive addiction and suppress breathing. Now, a study in mice shows certain types of pain can be prevented or reversed without apparent side effects by silencing a gene involved in pain signaling. If the approach weathers further testing, it could give chronic pain patients a safer and longer lasting option than opioids.

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https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/gene-silencing-injection-reverses-pain-mice