MIGRAINE sufferers have been told their painful condition could become a thing of the past thanks to a simple dental device.
A meeting of the Irish Migraine Association in Dublin was told yesterday how a specially designed dental splint could put an end to migraine attacks for a majority of sufferers.
Prof Philip Lamey of the School of Clinical Dentistry, Queen's University Belfast, said it had been discovered that many people who awoke with migraine had clenched their teeth while asleep.
Prof Lamey said a new peptide produced as a result of the clenching had been identified. Before treatment, people with migraine had peptide levels which were five times higher that people who had never suffered from the condition.
"We noticed that about 12 to 24 hours before an attack, peptide levels increase hugely," he said. He said 70 per cent of migraine sufferers who took part in trials were headache free as a result of using the splint. Fewer than 10 per cent of these had a return of the headaches after a year of being symptom free.
The chairwoman of the Irish Migraine Association, Ms Audrey Craven, said more than one in 10 Irish people suffered from migraine. The association wanted to set up a migraine clinic in Dublin. "These clinics are dotted all over the UK and we need a centre of expertise here. A large financial corporation has agreed to sponsor us but we need to put a plan together to interest the right people in the health services," she said.