What to know about this distressing condition that occurs two to three times more frequently in women than in men
Have you experienced migraines so severe that they affected your output and performance at work? Do you suffer from headaches at least two to three times in a week? Perhaps you’ve dismissed these painful episodes as best you could, concealing them with considerable effort to get through the work day as smoothly as possible.
Many people don’t realise the severity of a migraine’s effects, from psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety to loss of work productivity. Affecting 9 per cent of the Malaysian population, migraines have a peculiar prevalence among women, occurring two to three times more frequently in women than in men, according to data from a 2020 study published in Front Neurol.
“The gender difference is clearcut worldwide,” says Prince Court Medical Centre consultant neurologist Dr Julia Shahnaz Merican at the official launch of Pfizer Malaysia’s Nurtec in Kuala Lumpur, Southeast Asia’s first and only oral drug designed to treat migraines and reduce the frequency of future attacks when taken preventively. “A lot of women get migraines at puberty. They may have had it before that, but it definitely goes on an upslope once a girl has her period or if she is prone to migraines depending on family history and such.”
See also: Made by men, for men: Why medicine’s gender bias matters
According to Shahnaz, migraines are one of the most debilitating silent neurological conditions that patients suffer from, resulting in high healthcare expenditure, absenteeism in the workplace and even a phenomenon known as ‘presenteeism’, when a worker comes to work while still sick. “It’s basically people who are present in the office, but they’re unable to focus or work to their best ability. They’ll sit in meetings, but they’re not really there,” she says.
“That is something quite prevalent. Sadly, there’s a stigmatisation surrounding this in the workplace, and many employers are not really taking heed of the debilitating effects of migraines.”
Those who have experienced headaches that limit their activities for a day or more in the last three months and those who feel nauseated, sick or bothered by light while having a headache should definitely go see a neurologist, says Shahnaz.
“Hormonal changes and many other triggers are there that can bring on headaches. Menstrual migraines themselves have more severity than non-menstrual headaches. Migraines can occur throughout pregnancy, though there are some patients who become headache-free during pregnancy, and as soon as the baby is delivered, the headaches return,” says Shahnaz.
