Migraine research suffers from lack of funding
By Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel
Migraines affect more Americans than diabetes and asthma combined, but funding for migraine research is low. Without an infusion of research dollars, researchers say, it will be hard to conquer migraines.
Migraine specialists attending the American Headache Society meeting in Washington last weekend said they believe more government money for migraine research holds the most promise for winning the battle against the disease.
When asked to rank four areas of research need, 40 percent of those attending the conference said increased public funding is more important than understanding basic aspects of the disease. And public research dollars also were considered more important than early intervention in a migraine attack, migraine genetics or the role of the thalamus.
“The infusion of public money in migraine research is central to the conquest of this disease,” said Dr. David W. Dodick, president of the American Headache Society. “Even researchers funded by private grants from academia or industry are calling for increases in allocations in federal spending for this disease.”
NIH allocates less than $13 million a year to migraine reasearch. “Given the burden this disease carries and the great number of people who suffer with it, it should be more like $260 million,” Dodick said.