Key Points
A global study reveals that expensive, modern migraine medications are no more effective than traditional painkillers and even less effective than older treatments called triptans...
They are also up to three times more common in women than men.. Historically, affordable painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen, along with triptans, which affect blood circulation in the brain, have been prescribed to manage migraines.. Recently, a new class of migraine drugs known as gepants has entered the market..
The results showed that newer, more costly drugs, such as rimegepant, ubrogepant, and lasmiditan (which may cause drowsiness), were only as effective as basic painkillers like paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs...
In contrast, triptans - older migraine drugs like eletriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, and zolmitriptan - performed the best...
Study co-author Andrea Cipriani from Oxford University stressed the importance of effectively addressing migraines...
