It has turned from phase II clinical trials results that migraine can be effectively treated in a substantial portion of patients by administering a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibodies. Researchers will discuss the results of the trials this week at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Washington, D. C.

The drug brings down levels of CGRP, which play a key role in causing migraine. Tests are being conducted by four drug manufacturers -- Alder Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Eli Lilly and Company, and Teva Pharmaceuticals - for their own versions of CGRP monoclonal antibodies.

Teva said while presenting the results at American Headache Society meeting that its drug significantly reduced the number of headache hours after one week.

Amgen reported that 50% reduction in the number of migraine days was seen in patients who used its drug. Lilly showed its drug has better efficacy to prevent migraine headaches than placebo.

"In the general population, anybody out walking the streets in America, there's a 16.2 percent prevalence of migraine. We found that almost 34 percent of our players self-reported a history of migraine", said senior researcher Dr. Tad Seifert, director of Norton Healthcare's Sports Concussion Program in Louisville and head of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Headache Task Force.

Dr. David Dodick, a concussion expert at the Mayo Clinic and chair of the American Migraine Foundation, said many players are not aware about a concussion or a migraine that they have had. It seems migraine headaches or migraine-like symptoms are common in high school athletes who have had a concussion.