What causes migraines? Other than people making wild claims on the Internet without any evidence to back them up….🤯 Ever had a migraine? Then you know it’s WAY more than just a headache. It’s this pounding, debilitating pain that can make you want to crawl into a dark hole and never come out. And scientists have been trying to figure out why they hurt SO much for, like, forever! Well, researchers at University of North Carolina may have cracked *part* of the code! The culprit is this little protein called CGRP. It spikes during a migraine attack, and we knew it was involved in pain, just not how. Turns out, it actually messes with the brain's lymphatic system! Think of your brain like a house with a *lot* of bathrooms, and the lymphatic system is like the internet – a series of tubes, that drain away waste in cerebrospinal fluid. Well, CGRP acts like a wrench, tightening those pipes so fluid can’t flow properly. When the researchers injected CGRP and a traceable dye into the lymphatic vessels, they SAW the drainage *slowing way down*. For added proof, they studied mice that were resistant to CGRP. These mice had *fewer* migraines and didn’t mind bright lights as much. This study is HUGE news for migraine sufferers! Yes it’s a rodent study that needs human replication, but that’s normal for showing detailed mechanisms. This means we might be able to develop new treatments that target this CGRP plumbing problem, instead of ones that just mask the pain. And- One more thing! Migraines are 3-5 times more common in women. Well, the researchers *hypothesize* that hormonal changes throughout a woman’s life, like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, *might* actually affect how this brain drainage system works. One more thing! Alzheimer’s is [twice as common](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37304073/) in people with migraine, and some mouse models have shown that disrupting the cerebrospinal fluid drainage increases plaque formation. So, stay tuned, because this research could lead to better treatments for everyone! DOI: 10.1172/JCI175616. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0368-8 Image Ref: PMID: 36528776. #Science -#health #migraines #headacherelief — TikTok @distilledscience