Posts by Fred Schwaller

Medication overuse headache.
News

PACAP Signaling: A New Mechanism of Medication Overuse Headache from Opioids?

A recent animal study shows that inhibiting pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide alleviates medication overuse headache following morphine. The findings have interesting translational potential.
Self-management as a migraine treatment.
News

CHESS – A Negative Trial of Self-Management as a Migraine Treatment: What’s the Next Move?

Findings from the Chronic Headache Education and Self-management Study (CHESS) showed that self-management did not improve migraine symptoms, but there is reason for optimism, nonetheless.
Behavioral therapies for migraine.
Podcasts

Behavioral Therapies for Migraine: A Podcast with Dawn Buse

In this MSC podcast, Dr. Dawn Buse discusses how she began her career as a migraine researcher and clinical psychologist, the use of behavioral therapies for migraine, and some of her most important epidemiological research findings to date.
Interviews

The Role of Animal Models in Migraine Research: A Conversation with Andy Russo

In this MSC interview, Professor Russo discusses his path to migraine research, animal models of migraine, and much more.
Triptan responders and non-responders
News

The Response to Triptans: What Counts as Success? What Counts as Failure?

A consensus panel of the European Headache Federation provides definitions of triptan responders and non-responders. The effort could improve migraine treatment and standardize research.
News

A Better Way to Classify Migraine: Linking Symptoms to Patterns of Brain Activity

“Episodic” versus “chronic” migraine is not a biologically meaningful distinction, according to a new fMRI study.
Interviews

A Role for Nutraceuticals in the Treatment of Migraine: A Chat with Paul Durham

In this MSC interview, Dr. Paul Durham discusses his view of migraine as a systemic disorder, a role for nutraceuticals in the treatment of this condition, and much more.
Podcasts

The “Middle Child” of the Opioid Receptor Family: Targeting the Delta Opioid Receptor as a Promising Treatment Approach for Migraine – A Podcast with Amynah Pradhan

Neuroscientist Amynah Pradhan chats about the promise of targeting delta opioid receptors as a way to treat migraine safely and effectively, her recent work on neuronal complexity, and much more.
News

Migraine Changes the Structure of Neurons in the Brain – and Quickly, Too

A new study in mice shows that migraine alters neuronal complexity in pain-processing regions in the brain within hours.
Fred Schwaller

Fred Schwaller is a science writer and communicator based in Berlin, Germany. Fred spent a decade in pain research during his doctoral degree at University College London, UK, and his postdoc at the Max Delbrück Centre in Berlin, Germany. After transferring to science communication in 2020, he has been writing and podcasting about life sciences and medicine, specializing in somatosensation and pain. Follow him on Twitter @SchwallerFred.