Dr. Arun Sharma

Migraine Treatment in Dubai

For the first time in a long time we’ve gone from no news to lots of good news in the field of migraine treatment. In May 2018, the FDA approved a first-in-class medication, Erenumab, for the treatment of migraine. This monoclonal antibody inhibits calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a long-sought target in the development of therapies.

Erenumab’s class is robust, as well. In addition to this, there are 3 other members: Eptinezumab ,Fremanezumab , and Galcanezumab ,the latter two of which have FDA decisions pending for September 2018.

In addition to monoclonal antibodies, small molecular inhibitors against CGRP, known as Gepants, are also in development. Chief among these agents are Ubrogepant and Rimegepant, both of which have shown promise in phase III clinical trials. Keeping abreast with the latest developments in science and technology we at www.bestneurologistdubai.com offer the best migraine treatment in Dubai.

Regarding the latest or future treatment options for the migraine treatment in Dubai what is the most outstanding benefit?

The easiest way to look at it is that we have a new class of medications for the acute treatment of migraine, for somebody to take when they get a migraine attack. This is a new class of drugs called “Gepants.” What are the advantages? Well the drugs we all use are Triptans for example Zolmitriptan and Sumatriptan, and as you well know, people who have cardiovascular disease, stroke, significant hypertension—they can’t use them, and they have side effects.

The major advantage to this class of drugs called Gepants is the fact that they do not have cardiovascular risk, so the side effects are like those of a sugar pill. Moreover ,these medications are more effective than Triptans and do not cause habituation as seen often with the latter .. So, if you take too many Triptans,or ordinary pain-killers you end up with too many headaches.

The safety and tolerability of monoclonal antibodies that neutralize the bad chemicals that cause pain of migraine

These drugs have no appreciable side effects. We have four monoclonal antibodies directed against a CGRP-receptor with no effect on the liver or kidney. The monoclonal antibodies are genetically engineered humanized protein molecules and after they wipe out the bad pain causing chemical CGRP ,simply get broken down to natural amino acids .Hence ,it can be safely said that this is as close to naturopathy as we can get for migraine treatment in Dubai.

Is there anything else that can be said on these latest developments in migraine treatment in Dubai?

As everyone knows, we’re in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Part of the reason we have an opioid epidemic is that people are treating the symptoms of migraine, not the cause of migraine. I actually did a survey for migraine treatment in Dubai, and I’ve found that if you have chronic migraine—that’s migraine more than 15 days of the month—50% of patients are prescribed narcotics or opioids. If you have episodic migraine—that’s less than 15 days a month—opioid abuseis one-third. If you start giving opioids to people with frequent headaches, then the result is they will overuse them, have rebound headaches, and their headaches will become intractable. By moving to new classes of drugs that both prevent migraine and treat migraine without producing it, I think we’re going to help kill the opioid epidemic.