Help Katie raise money

Migraine has been a part of my life, off and on, since I was 13.  Not knowing any better, I had sinus surgery at age 36 in the hopes of preventing sinus infections. I woke up in the OR recovery with a terrible migraine, and a simple out-patient procedure turned into a year’s long horrific nightmare.  Ever since that operation, I’ve had “chronic daily headaches with episodic migraine”.  It’s affected everything about my life, including my marriage, what I can eat, what activities I can do, and my ability to hold a job to name a few.  My children have never known me as anything other than a mom with migraine limitations.  Sadly, my story isn’t unusual. Migraine is the third most prevalent and sixth most disabling condition in the world. Despite this, migraine is widely misunderstood and grossly underfunded due to a variety of factors. 

It's common.  Either you get migraines yourself, or you know someone who does.  Approximately 47 million people in the US have migraine.

Migraine is invisible, but not imaginary. A broken foot or a stomach virus is often graphically visible, while migraine is hidden. Symptoms are varied but debilitating nonetheless, most commonly including: visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, light & sound sensitivity, vertigo, brain fog, ringing in the ears, speech problems, and of course, debilitating head pain.

There's stigma. The numbers are large, yet the magnitude of this disease isn't taken seriously.  Why?  Because migraine has historically been known as a condition that "periodically" effects women, and was assumed to be a result of a "migraine personality"--anxious, perfectionist, ambitious, sexually dissatisfied or uncomfortable with motherhood.  Some of this misinformation is still responsible for people under reporting migraine and not seeking proper treatment. 

It's hard to get treatment.  There are only 556 board certified headache specialists in the US.  That equates to more than 84,000 patients per doctor. Not surprising that many physicians opt for another specialty when you look at the overwhelming number of patients, lack of available treatments, and dearth of research funds.

Migraine is the least funded neurological disease in regards to its economic burden. In 2022, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) allotted $46 million for migraine research. That equates to 50 cents per patient for a disease that affects 15% of the population. Conversely, in the same year, NIH gave $226 million for epilepsy research which affects 1% of the population--around $66/patient. Strange allocation of funds, when you consider one study estimated that the annual economic burden of migraine in the United States is over $14 billion per year, which includes direct costs as well as costs incurred due to loss of productivity.  Ninety percent of migraine sufferers can’t work or function while experiencing a migraine.

Migraine deserves to be seen as a genetic neurologic disease, with appropriate community and organizational awareness as well as proportional research funds. I will be taking part in Miles for Migraine’s Walk Run or Relax event in Salt Lake City on August 5, 2023.   I hope you will consider making a donation which will go directly to the University of Utah Headache Center.  If you can’t make a donation that’s ok, but join me in spreading the word that Migraine is more than just a headache!