The benefits of the use of anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies on migraine patients were at the center of the “Take a journey into migraine” event, organized in Bologna on 29 February and 1 March.
The latest data from "real life" studies on anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies, i.e. studies based on clinical practice data relating to patients taking these therapies all over the world, show how anti-CGRP are effective and safe drugs in the preventive treatment of migraine.
In the studies presented, the antibody used prophylactically was administered as a subcutaneous injection, monthly or sometimes quarterly, to patients who suffered from 4 or more migraine days per month, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of monthly days with migraine.
At an Italian level, however, not all patients can access this treatment under the reimbursement regime by the healthcare system, but only patients who have had at least three previous treatment failures and have at least 8 days of headache per month.
During the event, among others, the European "real life" observational Pearl study was presented, which involved 30 Italian centers and whose results demonstrated the effectiveness of treatment with monoclonal antibodies in clinical practice, and the Unite study, conducted in patients diagnosed with migraine and major depression, in which it was shown how the use of the monoclonal antibody fremanezumab not only reduces the number of monthly days of migraine, but determines significant reductions in the symptoms of depression and significant clinical improvements in the disability scores of the patients involved in the study.
According to the World Health Organization, 14% of the world's population suffers from migraines.
This pathology is the second cause of disability in the world and the first among young women.
Migraines often occur during puberty and peak in the fourth and fifth decades of life.
Symptoms tend to improve during pregnancy, then resurface after childbirth and breastfeeding.
Migraines can persist even during menopause and have negative implications on the quality of life, which affect the family, work and relational spheres.