This past Saturday 24^th July we were on BBC Radio 4 on the iPM programme. Those of you who follow us on Facebook may recall that we recently encouraged people to nominate us to ‘win’ Hugh Sykes. You managed to impress the people at BBC Radio 4 enough that they sent someone to the Clinic to make a little piece on migraine. It is a very nice 5-minute clip about living with migraine which manages to encompass many of the emotions and experiences of people with migraine.

So do listen in, it is available on BBC iPlayer for one week. You can also listen to the clip on our website and on Youtube.

A big thank you to all of you who nominated us in the first place and I encourage you to use this clip and spread it widely to help people understand a little bit better what it means to have migraine.

Legacy Campaign

Throughout the Clinic’s history it has never been the recipient of a legacy though we have been notified we will be receiving a small legacy some over this year. This is most unusual for such a well loved charity.  We have decided that we need to improve the information we have available on legacies, to let people know about the possibility of leaving a legacy and enable those people who would like to invest to improve the treatment and care of future generations of migraine sufferers. It is a cause that is close to many of your hearts as, due to the genetic links, your children and grandchildren may be the beneficiaries. We are in the developmental stages of this work and recently sent out a draft version of the new legacy leaflet inviting all of you to give us feedback. We are looking to collate all the feedback we have received, so if you have a! ny comments please send them by the 4^th August to admin@migraineclinic.org.uk.

We would like to thank all of you who have already commented, from proofing errors to suggestions of style and content changes – it will certainly improve the final product we have published!

News

Another new development in the field of migraine treatment is the licensing of Botox injections for the treatment of chronic migraine. Chronic migraine was for this purpose defined as having headaches on more than 15 days per month, with at least half  of which are accompanied by migraine symptoms. The procedure has been determined to be medically safe and consists of visits every 12 weeks, receiving approximately 30 injections at each visit. Although the beneficial effects in the studiy conducted were statistically better than placebo injections, both were effective in reducing the number of headache days per month. As with any new treatment one must weigh the benefits versus the risks. This is particularly relevant as this is an invasive procedure.

At the Clinic we consider Botox as one of a number of different treatment options which are considered on an individual basis, in discussion with each patient. 

Farewell and Thank You 

We are very sad to announce that Nanna Sandberg will be leaving us on the 6^th August to return to her home land of Sweden, we will miss her but understand the need to move home and to progress her ambitions.   We are very grateful for her major contribution to the Clinic over the past two years and wish her every success in the future.   

New study of menstrual migraine prevention medicine

We invite you to participate in this clinical trial to test a new medicine for the prevention of menstrually related migraine attacks. The medication blocks the action of the chemical CGRP, which may play a key role in migraine.

You will be asked to take the study tablets daily for 7 days every month.  You can continue your usual preventative and symptomatic treatments, provided they remain the same.  The study will last for 6 months and you will need to visit us at monthly intervals (a total of 7 visits).

Travel expenses are available and there is no charge for the treatment or the clinic visits.

If you are interested in taking part please call our Clinical Research Sister Alison Frith on 020 7251 8094, leaving a message with a daytime number if necessary. Alternatively, you can email Alison at research@migraineclinic.org.uk.

We would be delighted to provide further information about the trial and to discuss your possible participation. There is never any obligation to take part and you can change your mind at any time.

Female partners of patients for MM-Gen study as controls

We are currently doing a study of the genetics of menstrual migraine. As part of this study we also need a control group. For the control group we need women between 20 and 55 years of age who do NOT have migraine at all. Whilst we are finding women with menstrual migraine among our patients, we are finding it slightly more difficult to locate enough women without migraine – funnily enough there just aren’t many of them at a migraine clinic! So what we are hoping is that maybe some of our patients might have a female partner that would be willing to be part of our control group. All that is required is providing a saliva sample. Please contact us if your female partner can help us with this study at research@migraineclinic.org.uk.

Autumn 2010 Masterclasses

That time has come again, when we bring doctors in to Charterhouse Square and try and give them a taste of their own medicine! Every year we hold a number of medical Masterclasses, to educate doctors about what migraine is, how to diagnose the various types of migraine and primary headache and how best to treat migraine sufferers. There will be four talks this year, hosted a by a variety of doctors from the Migraine Clinic and outside, but there are still places available so if you think your GP might be interested, or know of another medical practitioner – maybe yourself or a family member – who could do with a migraine brush-up please print out a copy of the , give it to them and hopefully they will come down and improve themselves.  

Adidas Women’s Challenge 5k run 

On the 5th September 2010 some of us are participating in the Adidas Women’s Challenge run in Hyde Park, London. It is a 5k run, so you won’t need months of training to join in – a lot of people walk rather than run. If any of you would be interested in coming along you can register on their website. It costs £15 to enter of which £5 goes to Clinic.  To make it easier to raise money we suggest setting up a fundraising page with Virgin Money Giving, a website which works like JustGiving, but passes on more of the money donated to the selected charity. We would be more than happy to help you set up a fundraising page, give us a shout and we’ll talk you through it.

The decision to use Virgin money as our ‘Giving Partner’ is a result of the improved conditions they provide for small charities – such as the Migraine Clinic – as opposed to the other potential net-based providers. We felt that our supporters would be happy to know we were getting more of their money, and putting it to use, rather than having a middleman benefit from the hard work they are putting in raising funds.

Dr Joseph Norman Blau 1928 – 2010

Former consultant neurologist National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London; Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London; Northwick Park Hospital and Medical Research Centre Harrow, Middlesex; honorary consultant neurologist and medical director, the City of London Migraine Clinic (b 1928; q St Bartholomew’s Hospital 1952; MD FRCP FRCPath), d 26 June 2010.

Born in Berlin on 5^th October 1928 to Polish parents, Joseph Norman Blau (“Nat”) initially escaped the Nazis with a move to Poland in 1938. He was on the last boat to England before the invasion of Poland. On reaching London, he was evacuated to the country. His parents and sister were captured and shot by a Nazi firing squad in 1942. His determination and intelligence was apparent throughout his schooling and he secured a place at St Bartholomew’s Hospital medical school as an Open Science Scholar. After house jobs, he worked his National Service first as Lieutenant and then Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, including a year at Army Head Injuries Hospital. A Nuffield Medical Scholarship took him to Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, where he undertook research on the thymus gland. Back in London, an MRC grant enabled him to continue research on Hassall’s corpuscles at Guy’s Hospital, gaining his MD while also working! as a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases.

In his clinical career, he trained in neurology as registrar, and later senior registrar to Lord Brain. During this time he met Dr Marcia Wilkinson with whom he shared a common personal affliction with migraine. In 1980, she invited Nat to join her in opening the City of London Migraine Clinic, a registered medical charity. He volunteered to work a day a week as a consultant neurologist at the clinic until ill health forced him to retire just six months before his death. A driving force behind the fundraising – an increasingly difficult task over recent times – he wrote personal letters to heads of City organisations highlighting disability from migraine and requesting donations to the charity. More often than not, he received a personal reply accompanied by a cheque. 

His first paper on migraine was published in 1955. He went on to publish over 100 papers in scientific journals as well as numerous book chapters, a highly respected textbook on migraine and a book for the lay reader. He was a popular and eloquent speaker, with invitations from all parts of the globe. He talked to people, rather than at them, always requesting a tie microphone so that he could wander among the group and question unsuspecting members of the audience. No lecture was ever the same and all were remembered. He was active in the lay organisation Migraine Action (formerly the British Migraine Association), often talking at their AGM, and was their honorary medical advisor from 1980 to 2007. He served on Council of the neurological section of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Anglo-Dutch Migraine Association. Between 1994 and 1996 he was Chairman of the British Association for the Study of Headache.

He used his clinical acumen to further his research, focusing on the patient’s symptoms to help him to understand the pathophysiology. A popular quote of his was “Listen to the patient, he is telling you the diagnosis.” He would not be swayed by popular medical hypotheses. At a time when animal models for migraine were popular, he stood firm in his belief that we must look to the patient for the answers. The result was seminal papers on migraine precipitants, the phases of migraine attacks and behaviour during cluster headache. He also identified three new headaches.   A deep thinker, he loved to discuss all aspects of migraine including historical and philosophical aspects. Faced with a comment or response with which he disagreed, he would raise his untamed eyebrows and a long pause would be followed by one of “Blau’s Laws” – all were peppered with humour but each held a profound truth. Favourites included: &ldqu! o;Epidemiology is paralysis by analysis”; ”Better to have bad ideas than no ideas”; “Treat the man not the scan”; and “Decisive hesitation is better than hesitative decision.” He eschewed anything that could create a barrier between doctor and patient. This meant that the patient’s chair was placed beside the desk, years before this became the standard recommendation. Computers were equally seen as an unnecessary distraction during a consultation, although he embraced their use for his writing.

From an early age, he had been taught to consider Judaism to be a questioning religion. He believed that if you can question God, you can question anything. No research escaped critical review, resulting in stimulating debate. Also a writer, he spent many hours in the Royal Society of Medicine’s library and was a member of the Society of Authors. At home, he enjoyed smoking his pipe while he wrote. His other love was music, which he combined with medicine by playing the cello in the London Medical Orchestra and serving as honorary medical advisor to the British Association for Music Therapy.

He treated and improved the lives of thousands of patients suffering from migraine, cluster headache, and other debilitating headaches. He taught countless medical students and doctors, encouraging doctors training at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery to sit in on his clinics. His questioning approach was polarising but all admired him for the thorough training that they received. Despite the significant impact he made in the field of headache, he was always modest and unassuming.

After a long battle with prostate cancer he is survived by his wife, Jill; three children; and four grandchildren.

by Anne MacGregor

Heather Sim

Cheif Executive

Part Time Headache Specialist Doctor

Are you interested in developing a special interest?

Would you like to have up to 40 minutes to spend with your patients?

The City of London Migraine Clinic is an internationally renowned medical charity for the management of Headache and Migraine. Due to a steady increase in patient numbers, we would like to recruit an additional doctor to our dynamic team of 7 doctors. We are looking for a doctor to work for a minimum of 2 sessions a week, this would include one session on either Tuesday 9 – 1pm or 1 – 5pm or Thursday 1 – 5pm, together with 1 session worked either on Monday or Wednesday. Each session is 4-hours, new patients appointments are 40 minutes, follow up appointment 20 minutes.

We welcome people from a GP or Reproductive Health background who have a whole patient approach to the delivery of patient care. Neurological experience is desirable together with an interest in migraine and other primary headaches. An interest in Contraceptive Medicine and Mental Health would complete the picture of our ideal candidate. We will provide the training necessary to deliver the Clinic’s well-known service.

The salary for this role is £4,363 per annum inclusive of London weighting (per session). Although we are a registered medical charity and not part of the NHS, however we can provide access to the NHS Pension Scheme.

Please visit our website on: www.migraineclinic.org.uk for job description and background information.

If you wish to apply, please email the following to Heather Sim:
1. A covering letter, briefly stating why you would like this post
2. A copy of your CV
3. Names and contact details of 2 referees.

Closing date: 6th September 2010 Interviews: Will be held later in September

In order to achieve this we need to:

 - improve our ability to raise funds
 - develop partnerships with both the private and public sectors
 - improve the quality of care for people who suffer from severe headaches through our provision of education to the health care profession
 - improve our organisation of the clinic
 - diversify our research activities

We are looking for a high calibre individual, who would really value and make the most of the opportunity to work for a supportive organisation where their ideas, energy and enthusiasm would be valued. The role would be extremely varied ranging from fundraising & education events administration, to clinic administration and give plenty of opportunities for innovation. You must be IT literate, enjoy writing, hardworking, committed and enthusiastic.

Your reward would be enormous satisfaction as you see the Clinic moving towards its goal whilst continuing to provide an axcellent service to its patients. You will receive an interesting mixture of experiences that would provide grounding for future roles in fundraising, educational event management, charity administration, and clinic administration.

This is a voluntary position; we pay a basic allowance to cover travel & any agreed out-of-pocket expenses.

Closing date for applications: 12^th July

If you are interested please email a copy of your CV and a covering letter to heather.sim@migraineclinic.org.uk. If you have any queries please contact Nanna Sandberg on 00 7251 3322.

Travel expenses are available.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AND WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CLICK THE ‘VOLUNTEER FOR RESEARCH’-BUTTON OR CONTACT:

Mrs Alison Frith
Clinical Research Sister
The City of London Migraine Clinic,
22 Charterhouse Square,
London EC1M 6DX.

Direct Line: 020 7251 8094
Email: research@migraineclinic.org.uk

So tomorrow, Saturday 24th July 2010, at 17.50 we will feature on iPM. They were kind enough to send us a preview and in the 5-minute clip they have managed to capture a lot of the experiences of having migraine.

You can listen to the clip here or on Youtube.

Dr J N Blau 1928 – 2010 It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dr Nat Blau, who passed away on 26th June 2010 following a long battle with cancer. A co-founder of the Clinic, he worked tirelessly over the last 30 years and will be greatly missed by us all. Please join us in sharing our condolences with his wife, Jill and his children Justin, Adrian, and Rosie.
A full obituary will be placed on the website and will be included in the next newsletter.

Congratulations Professor MacGregor!
We are very thrilled to announce that our Director of Clinical Research has been awarded a personal Chair at the Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, the University of London.

Migraine Art
As part of our 30th Birthday celebrations we plan to focus on Migraine Art: we intend to hold a completion open to Children, Adults and possibly a special category for Art Students. We plan to invite art works not only illustrating the auras, and pain but also the experience when the migraine has lifted. We will then hold an exhibition of this work where the art works will be sold. We have been trying to gain sponsorship for the event for a considerable period of time. If any of you are aware of any organisations or individual who may be willing to sponsor this event please contact Heather.

Internship – do you know anyone looking to work in the 3rd sector?
If you are a graduate looking for your first job or looking for a change of direction into the charitable sector we have got the opportunities for you to build on your existing skill set and gain new ones.

We are looking for a high calibre individual, who would really value and make the most of the opportunity to work for a supportive organisation where their ideas, energy and enthusiasm would be valued. The role would be extremely varied ranging from fundraising & education events administration, to clinic administration and give plenty of opportunities for innovation. You must be IT literate, enjoy writing, hardworking, committed and enthusiastic.

You will receive an interesting mixture of experiences that would provide grounding for future roles in fundraising, educational event management, charity administration, and clinic administration.

This is a voluntary position; we pay a basic allowance to cover travel & any agreed out-of-pocket expenses.

If you are interested please email a copy of your CV together with a covering letter to heather.sim@migraineclinic.org.uk. IF you have any queries please contact Nanna Sandberg on 00 7251 3322.

Alexandra Rose Day – a big thanks to our volunteers on the day
We would like to send out a big thank you to the volunteers who took
collections tins around the City on Alexandra Rose Day
the 17th June. Our long-time supporters Mary,
Brendan and Jill were joined by Giovanna and Daniel.
Together they raised over £300!

For more information on Alexandra Rose Day please look here.

Gift Aid – The silver lining of the new 50% tax rate – Gift Aid and the new tax bracket
The new 50% tax band that came into effect on 6th April this year could be used to increase the value of your charitable donations.
Under the Government’s Gift Aid scheme, the Clinic can reclaim tax on the donations made by UK taxpayers. We, as a charity can claim the basic rate tax directly from HM Revenue & Customs. For individuals paying a higher rate of tax, the difference between the higher rate and the basic rate can be reclaimed by the individual or donated to charity.
This means that anyone who is in a higher tax bracket can either increase the amount of their donation significantly or reduce the cost of making charitable donations.

As an example a £100 donation from an individual paying basic rate income tax would become £125 including Gift Aid. From a person paying the 40% tax rate the total potential donation would be £160 if all the reclaimed tax was given to the charity.

With the new 50% tax rate the total potential donation from the starting £100 would be £176!

This new tax rate applies to people earning more than £150,000 per year and it has been estimated this will apply to more than 350,000 people in the UK. If you think reclaiming the higher rate tax seems too much of a hassle – please consider payroll giving. In practice this means all of these calculations are taken care of automatically through your payroll, minimizing the effort needed.

For more information please have a look at the HMRC website.

Research Studies
• A new drug trial for menstrual migraine has just started. This six month study involves takingprevention medication at the prone time and coming to see us each month after you have treated to give us a blood sample. You can continue your usual medication.
• We are also still looking for women who have migraine with their periods to come to the clinic to provide a saliva sample for genetic analysis. If you are coming to the Clinic, you may be asked at your visit if you would like to help.
• Women needed who do NOT have migraine! Do you know anyone who does not have migraine, is female and would be willing to make 1 or 2 visits to the Clinic to participate in the genetics study? If you work in London Alison would also be willing to visit your office to collect the saliva samples from willing volunteers.
• Gentlemen. We need you for research too! Please register you interest with Alison. We hope to tell you about our new migraine treatment study due to start at the end of the year, in the next newsletter. If your wife or female partner is lucky enough not to have migraine and would like to help with our genetics study, we would be delighted to hear from her.

Please contact our Research Sister Alison Frith to find out more or just register your interest in our projects. We need your help. There’s never any obligation to participate and we can reimburse your travel expenses. Email research@migraineclinic.org.uk

Does Vagotomy affect Migraine?
We are currently studying the effect of vagotomy on migraine. This operation to cut the vagus nerve was a treatment for stomach ulcers, although it is not common now. If you or anyone you know with migraine has had a vagotomy, we would be very interested to hear about the effect, if any, that the operation had on your migraine.

Please respond to research@migraineclinic.org.uk to let us know of your experience.

Fundraising – Would you like to begin the road to improving your fitness?
A few friends and staff from the Clinic are planning to take part in the 2010 adidas Women’s 5K Challenge in Hyde Park on Sunday 5th September 2010. The entrance fee is £15, the clinic will receive £5 of this. If you wish to get your friends and family to sponsor you and raise even more money for the clinic (thank you in advance!) please use Virgin Money website to set up a site. This is very useful as it takes the pain out of collecting the money and you can email the link to all your contacts! We can provide sponsorship forms if you wish.

If you are not sure that you are up to running 5k please do not worry, you can walk the race if you wish and children can accompany you. For some it may be the first of many fun runs! We look forward to meeting some of you on the 5th September. To register please follow this link and don’t forget to enter The City of London Migraine Clinic as your charity. Please contact Nanna if you have any questions.

Virgin Money Charity credit card
A new credit card available from Virgin Money allows you to donate up to 1.02% of all your card purchases to charity. Where most such credit cards are linked to a specific cause/charity, this card allows you to choose between all charities registered with Virgin Money Giving – which includes us. The money that you can choose to donate consists of 0.8% cash back which become just over 1% once gift aid is added (provided you are eligible for gift aid).
Before signing up to any credit agreement please ensure you are familiar with and understand the terms and conditions that apply.

News – Aspirin as Acute Treatment
Many of you may have read or heard about a study that was published in the middle of April about the efficacy of using aspirin to treat migraine attacks. We posted links on Facebook and Twitter for those of you who follow us there. This study was what is generally called a meta-analysis – meaning that it was a study of previously conducted studies. This gives more of an overview of all the research done on a specific topic, but can be more difficult to analyse as each study is done differently to the next – making the results hard to compare.
What the study suggests is that in 25% of cases aspirin will leave the person pain free within 2 hours. For half of people it will reduce the severity of the symptoms to mild in the same time. It was suggested that high dose aspirin (900g) in combination with metoclopromide is especially effective against migraine attacks. This combination is already recommended as an acute treatment by the British Association for the Study of Headaches (BASH) and is regularly recommended by the doctors at the Clinic.
As always it is important to discuss changes in the medication you use with your GP or another doctor to ensure this option is appropriate for you.

Menstrual Migraine
Published on 17th April, in the most recent edition of the journal Headache, our Medical Research Director Dr Anne MacGregor was the co-author of an article titled “Characteristics of Menstrual vs Nonmenstrual Migraine ”. The article discusses the results of a study on the differences between menstrual and nonmenstrual migraine attacks, making comparisons both between women and between the two kinds of attacks for the same women. The results indicated that menstrual migraine attacks were more severe, lasted longer and were more prone to relapse compared with nonmenstrual attacks. Most of the difference could also be seen in those women who got both menstrual and nonmenstrual attacks – suggesting that the difference lay in the type of migraine attack rather than differences between the women who have menstrual migraine and those who have nonmenstrual migraine.
This suggests a need to further study menstrual migraine in its own right as it can differ from nonmenstrual migraine. Maybe our current study of the genetics of menstrual migraine may shed some light on it – although this study is still in the early stages and no results are expected for a few years.

Heather Sim
Chief Executive

A full obituary is posted below and will be included in the next newsletter.

Joseph Norman Blau

Former consultant neurologist National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London; Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London; Northwick Park Hospital and Medical Research Centre Harrow, Middlesex; honorary consultant neurologist and medical director, the City of London Migraine Clinic (b 1928; q St Bartholomew’s Hospital 1952; MD FRCP FRCPath), d 26 June 2010.

Born in Berlin on 5^th October 1928 to Polish parents, Joseph Norman Blau (“Nat”) initially escaped the Nazis with a move to Poland in 1938. He was on the last boat to England before the invasion of Poland. On reaching London, he was evacuated to the country. His parents and sister were captured and shot by a Nazi firing squad in 1942. His determination and intelligence was apparent throughout his schooling and he secured a place at St Bartholomew’s Hospital medical school as an Open Science Scholar. After house jobs, he worked his National Service first as Lieutenant and then Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, including a year at Army Head Injuries Hospital. A Nuffield Medical Scholarship took him to Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, where he undertook research on the thymus gland. Back in London, an MRC grant enabled him to continue research on Hassall’s corpuscles at Guy’s Hospital, gaining his MD while also working as a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases.

In his clinical career, he trained in neurology as registrar, and later senior registrar to Lord Brain. During this time he met Dr Marcia Wilkinson with whom he shared a common personal affliction with migraine.  In 1980, she invited Nat to join her in opening the City of London Migraine Clinic, a registered medical charity. He volunteered to work a day a week as a consultant neurologist at the clinic until ill health forced him to retire just six months before his death. A driving force behind the fundraising – an increasingly difficult task over recent times – he wrote personal letters to heads of City organisations highlighting disability from migraine and requesting donations to the charity. More often than not, he received a personal reply accompanied by a cheque. 

His first paper on migraine was published in 1955. He went on to publish over 100 papers in scientific journals as well as numerous book chapters, a highly respected textbook on migraine and a book for the lay reader. He was a popular and eloquent speaker, with invitations from all parts of the globe. He talked to people, rather than at them, always requesting a tie microphone so that he could wander among the group and question unsuspecting members of the audience. No lecture was ever the same and all were remembered. He was active in the lay organisation Migraine Action (formerly the British Migraine Association), often talking at their AGM, and was their honorary medical advisor from 1980 to 2007.  He served on Council of the neurological section of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Anglo-Dutch Migraine Association. Between 1994 and 1996 he was Chairman of the British Association for the Study of Headache.

He used his clinical acumen to further his research, focusing on the patient’s symptoms to help him to understand the pathophysiology. A popular quote of his was “Listen to the patient, he is telling you the diagnosis.”  He would not be swayed by popular medical hypotheses. At a time when animal models for migraine were popular, he stood firm in his belief that we must look to the patient for the answers. The result was seminal papers on migraine precipitants, the phases of migraine attacks and behaviour during cluster headache. He also identified three new headaches.   A deep thinker, he loved to discuss all aspects of migraine including historical and philosophical aspects. Faced with a comment or response with which he disagreed, he would raise his untamed eyebrows and a long pause would be followed by one of “Blau’s Laws” – all were peppered with humour but each held a profound truth. Favourites included: “Epidemiology is paralysis by analysis”; ”Better to have bad ideas than no ideas”; “Treat the man not the scan”; and “Decisive hesitation is better than hesitative decision.” He eschewed anything that could create a barrier between doctor and patient. This meant that the patient’s chair was placed beside the desk, years before this became the standard recommendation. Computers were equally seen as an unnecessary distraction during a consultation, although he embraced their use for his writing.

From an early age, he had been taught to consider Judaism to be a questioning religion. He believed that if you can question God, you can question anything. No research escaped critical review, resulting in stimulating debate. Also a writer, he spent many hours in the Royal Society of Medicine’s library and was a member of the Society of Authors. At home, he enjoyed smoking his pipe while he wrote.  His other love was music, which he combined with medicine by playing the cello in the London Medical Orchestra and serving as honorary medical advisor to the British Association for Music Therapy.

He treated and improved the lives of thousands of patients suffering from migraine, cluster headache, and other debilitating headaches. He taught countless medical students and doctors, encouraging doctors training at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery to sit in on his clinics. His questioning approach was polarising but all admired him for the thorough training that they received. Despite the significant impact he made in the field of headache, he was always modest and unassuming.

After a long battle with prostate cancer he is survived by his wife, Jill; three children; and four grandchildren.

Anne MacGregor
The City of London Migraine Clinic

If you would be willing to talk to the media about your experience of headaches and the Clinic then please contact us on info@migraineclinic.org.uk. It will always be up to you whether you participate and what kind of media you would be willling to talk to.

We will also provide lunch and snacks throughout the day. To cover the costs of this day we are charging £25, including the refreshments. For details of the speakers and the registration form please see this leaflet.

Programme:

9.30 Welcome & Coffee

10.00 ‘What’s the link between hormones and headaches – from puberty to menopause’

11.00 Medication overuse headache

12.00 Lunch break

13.00 Headaches in pregnancy

14.00 The Pill for migraine?

15.00 Roundup and tea & coffee

The City of London Migraine Clinic – a registered medical charity founded in 1980 – provides access to a team of doctors with a specialist interest in the management of migraine and other headaches. We offer outpatient appointments to all patients from the UK and abroad by prior arrangement. We are the only independent migraine charity who provides treatment for primary headaches. We receive no government funding, but work with PCTs and hospitals to help reduce waiting times and improve care for headache sufferers. The feedback we receive speaks for itself, with 90% of patients stating the service they receive from us is ‘excellent.’

Research into the causes of migraine and other headaches is also undertaken. Standard treatments for migraine as defined by the International Headache Society have resulted from our studies. Our findings are fundamental to the advice given by the NHS, various migraine charities and the British Association for the Study into Headaches. We continue to study drug and non-drug treatments for migraine at the Clinic in peer reviewed clinical trials. Patients may be given the opportunity to try new treatments in a clinical study. We ask our patients to consider taking part in current or future trials, but there is no obligation and the care we provide is not affected in any way.

30th Birthday

We are celebrating our 30th Birthday.  The Clinic was set up by Dr Nat Blau and Dr Marcia Wilkinson in 1980 and although much has changed since then, the building and aims of the Clinic haven’t changed.  For our 30th anniversary year we have a number of things planned but we would like to involve as many of you as possible; so if you have any ideas of how you would like to celebrate our birthday, please do let us know!

Information Day on Hormonal Headaches for the Public

We are a world renowned centre of excellence on hormones and migraine.  On 1st July 2010 we have arranged an information day on hormonal headaches. More than half of all women who have migraine notice a link to their period, but how does that affect how you treat it? How do you deal with menstrual migraines, migraine attacks during pregnancy and whilst breastfeeding or during the menopause?  These are some of the topics that will be covered on the day.

We will also provide lunch and snacks throughout the day. To cover the costs of this day we are charging £25, including the refreshments.

Provisional programme:

9.30 Welcome & Coffee

10.00 ‘What’s the link between hormones and headaches – from puberty to menopause’

11.00 Medication overuse headache

12.00 Lunch break

13.00 Headaches in pregnancy

14.00 The Pill for migraine?

15.00 Roundup and tea & coffee

The Clinic is internationally known for its research, much of which has focused on hormones and migraine and we wish to spread the knowledge we have to people affected. We also want to further our own knowledge and current research includes a study on genetics and menstrual migraine. If you have menstrual migraine please contact our Clinical Research Sister Alison Frith via email on research@migraineclinic.org.uk or on 020 7251 8094 to find out about our current and forthcoming studies.

Doctors’ events

As in previous years we are running a number of events for medical professionals this year. We are trying to circulate the information as widely as possible and so if you know anyone that might be interested in our events please let us know and we can send them a flyer.  Maybe you could drop a few off at your GP surgery?  The flyers can be found on our website.

We have the flyer in both electronic and paper format and can send you copies of either version. This spring/summer we have 2 full-day symposiums planned, each costing £125. These are suitable for healthcare professionals.  The symposia are based in London, providing easy access to healthcare professionals from around the UK.

We will be arranging a general Headache Symposium on the 27th May that aims to cover as much ground as possible in one day. There will be a number of speaker including Dr Anne MacGregor and topics range from making a diagnosis, when to investigate and cluster headaches.

On the 10th June we are holding a Hormonal Headaches symposium. Speakers confirmed are Dr Anne MacGregor and Prof. John Guillebaud (co-authors of the book ‘The Pill’). Topics includes the link between hormones and migraine, headaches in pregnancy and taking the Pill for migraine.

Our evening series of Masterclasses will also be returning in September.

Donations 

A big thank you to all of you who have helped the Clinic with donations!

Since last spring the average patient donation has increased by more than a third. This has been even more appreciated considering the current economic climate.  Whilst we are extremely grateful for this increase in the average donation it is still considerably below the cost of the service.  So we will continue to inform patients of our true costs, and continue pursuing new partnerships to help offset the financial difference.

Have you got a philanthropic employer?   

In a past newsletter we mentioned that some organisations match fund donations made to charities.  We are now pleased in inform you that one of the large banks, Credit Suisse have a scheme ‘Employee Participation Grants’.  This is to recognise and support the individual volunteering (of 8 hours or more) and fundraising efforts (raised £500 or more one year) of employees in a personal capacity outside of the bank.  The award is £500 per employee per calendar year for their chosen charity. 

Some of you may work for other employers with similar schemes from which we might benefit.  We would be extremely grateful and would offer any adminstratvie support required to submit the application.

Research 

We are currently doing a study on genentics and menstual migraine – you may have seen posters looking for women who have menstrual migraine.  Along with these volunteers we also need some volunteers for our control group – this means that they would complete a questionaire and provide us with a sample of saliva.

Control group volunteers must not have migraine or a family history of migraine. They also need to be women between the ages of 18 and 65. To gather the amount of samples we need we used other events to enable us to reach more people (who don’t have migraine). Ideally a stand in a large office would allow us to get a large amount of samples in a shorter time than relying on friends of patients. If you, or anyone you know, might be able to help us arrange something like this please do not hesitate to contact our Clinical Research Sister Alison Frith via email on research@migraineclinic.org.uk or on 020 7251 8094.  

Migraine Heroes Healthcare Awards 2010

Our Research Sister, Alison Frith won the category Best Healthcare Professional in 2008.  Do you have a very supportive employer, or maybe a friend or family member who has helped you or someone you know with their migraine?  New for this year is the category of ‘Best Clinic’  We very much encourage you to nominate people and organisations that have helped and supported those suffering with migraine for Migraine Action’s annual awards. There are 8 categories and nominations are open until the 19th June, the forms for which can be found at www.migraine.org.uk/heroes, or paper versions from the clinic.

Since last spring the average patient donation has increased by more than a third. This has been even more appreciated considering the current economic climate.  Whilst we are extremely grateful for this increase in the average donation it is still considerably below the cost of the service.  So we will continue to inform patients of our true costs, and continue pursuing new partnerships to help offset the financial difference.

The categories are as follows:

- Best Carer

- Best Clinic

- Best in Complementary Medicine

- Best Employer

- Best GP

- Best Healthcare Professional

- Young Migraineur Star Award

- Young Migrauneur Special Award

So if you know of anyone who has made a difference to the life of one or more migraine sufferers please take the time to let them know they are appreciated.

Parliamentary Report on Headache Disorders

This past Tuesday, the 16th March, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Primary Headache Disorders published a report called Headache Disorders – nor respected, not resourced . This report is based on the evidence presented to the Group over the past two years. The report covers a number of topics, including the economic costs of migraine to the UK, improving management in primary care and company research. One of the chapters of the report, on migraine in women, was written by our Clinical Research Director Dr Anne MacGregor who also held a small presentation at the launch of the report.

In the words of the APPG chairman Stephen O’Brien MP “I believe that the thrust of this report should have real impact in urging policy- and decision-makers to turn their attention to this pressing, widespread issue which is capable of solutions that will increase the wellbeing of our constituents and fellow citizens.”

Hopefully this report can help in highlighting the impact of headaches on so many people and provide a government incentive to take headaches more seriously.

New newsletter system – feedback and suggestions! 

Our December newsletter was the first to be sent using our new newsletter email system. The new system allows us to have the header and footer with our logo and details and also makes it easier to put together and send.  As the format has changed we would like to know what you would like to see in the upcoming newsletters. Do you want to hear more about the fundraising we do, or maybe get updates on the research? Would a news summary of headache news from around the would be of interest?

We would also like to know how it looks to you: can you see the logo, did it end up among your junk mail or anything else that you would like to comment on?

Any suggestions and ideas are warmly received!

Heather Sim
Chief Executive