MIDAS is migraine treatment breakthrough

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http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1cf096.htm

Migraine tool reduces patient suffering, saves time

SAN DIEGO, CA -- May 1, 2000 -- A migraine treatment breakthrough will be

discussed at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting. Results of an

international trial sponsored by AstraZeneca show that MIDAS, an innovative,

yet simple, five-question form, helps migraine patients find appropriate

medication the first time they talk to their doctor.

Without this tool, many patients suffer through a lengthy and inefficient

treatment process starting with simple analgesics and working their way up

to more potent medications when previous medications fail.

Imagine feeling so ill that you could not take care of your children or go

to work or spend time with your spouse. This is the disability experienced

by many migraine sufferers. The MIDAS questionnaire, for MIgraine Disability

Assessment Scale, is designed to allow patients with severe migraine to skip

simple analgesics in the course of treatment. In the past, physicians have

not had a clinically relevant reliable tool to assess disability at the

onset of treatment, so they have started patients with a simple analgesic,

regardless of the severity of their migraine attacks.

Doctors use MIDAS to measure a sufferer's disability and assign a score

based on answers to questions about time lost from the workplace, housework,

and leisure activities. This information helps physicians to select the most

appropriate treatment plan, giving simple analgesics like aspirin to

patients with lower scores, and prescribing more powerful medications to

patients with higher scores.

In this study, migraine sufferers with moderate to high levels of disability

were effectively treated with Zomig® (zolmitriptan) Tablets. Researchers

found that treating patients according to their MIDAS scores produced better

results than traditional stepped-care approaches.

An analysis presented here today compares three common strategies of

migraine management. Using stepped care across attacks patients treat three

attacks with simple analgesics and then " step up " to Zomig for additional

attacks if the first treatment is inadequate. The second strategy, stepped

care within attacks, involves starting patients with simple analgesics but

adding Zomig if headache relief is not achieved within two hours of initial

treatment. Lastly, the stratified care approach uses MIDAS scores to

prescribe Zomig to patients with high levels of disability and simple

analgesics to patients with less disability. Disability time and improvement

in the severity of headache at two hours were significantly better for

stratified care versus step-care across or within attacks.

" This is the first randomized trial to compare strategies of selecting and

sequencing migraine medications, " said study lead author Lipton, MD,

of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y. " The results show

that if doctors consider headache-related disability as measured by MIDAS in

selecting migraine therapies patient outcomes improve. "

Migraine is a chronic medical condition affecting upwards of 23 million

Americans. Attacks are characterized by severe unilateral head pain lasting

between four and 72 hours and often are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and

sensitivity to light and/or sound. The condition usually occurs in people

between the ages of 25 and 55 and predominantly affects women.

Zomig (zolmitriptan) Tablets are indicated for the acute treatment of

migraine with or without aura in adults. Zomig is not intended to prevent

attacks from happening but to relieve pain regardless of when it occurs.

Zomig is contraindicated for patients with uncontrolled hypertension,

ischemic heart disease, or other significant underlying heart disease. In

addition, Zomig should not be administered to patients who are

hypersensitive to zolmitriptan or any of the inactive ingredients of Zomig

Tablets. Zomig should not be taken by patients who have certain types of

heart disease or uncontrolled high blood pressure. Very rarely, some people

without recognized heart disease may have serious heart-related problems.

Also, if patients think they may have risk factors for heart disease such as

smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or a family history of heart

disease, or if they are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications, patients

should talk to their health care provider. The most common side effects

associated with taking Zomig include dizziness; tightness, pressure or pain

in the neck, throat, or jaw; fatigue; tingling sensations; drowsiness; or

nausea.

AstraZeneca is a major international health care business engaged in the

research, development, manufacture, and marketing of ethical (prescription)

pharmaceuticals and the supply of health care services. It is one of the top

five pharmaceutical companies in the world with health care sales of $15

billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology,

anesthesia including pain management, cardiovascular, central nervous system

(CNS), and respiratory products. In the United States, AstraZeneca is a $7.4

billion health care business with approximately 9,500 employees.