Placebo and nocebo in the treatment of migraine: How much does real world effectiveness depend on contextual effects?

PURPOSE

Treatments in medicine impact individuals beyond their intended effects, due to phenomena such as the placebo and nocebo effects. The placebo effect arises from the positive expectation of a treatment being beneficial, while the nocebo effect stems from the negative expectation of a treatment causing harm. Both in real-world practice and clinical trials, treatments can lead to outcomes unrelated to their intended mechanism of action, which we categorize as placebo and nocebo responses. These responses, combined with the inherent fluctuation in a condition's natural progression, regression to the mean, and random comorbidities, make up a significant part of the therapeutic experience. Particularly in pain management, placebo and nocebo effects play a substantial role. By addressing modifiable contextual factors such as patient expectations, lifestyle choices, and the therapeutic relationship, healthcare providers can enhance the effectiveness of migraine treatments, paving the way for a more comprehensive, individualized approach to patient care. We must also consider non-modifiable factors like personal experiences, beliefs, and information from social media and the internet.

CONCLUSION

This review offers a summary of our current understanding of the placebo and nocebo effects in migraine management.

A rare case of central post-stroke pain in a patient with migraine and lacunar infarcts in the medulla oblongata

Studies about headaches associated with acute ischemic stroke in patients suffering from migraine were limited, and therefore we present a clinical case of central post-stroke pain (CPSP) in a 47-year-old woman with migraine and lacunar infarcts in the medulla oblongata and also possible mechanisms of CPSP in patients with migraine. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed lacunar infarction in the medulla oblongata on the right (vertebral artery basin) and a single focus of gliosis in the parietal lobe on the right. Magnetic resonance angiography of cerebral vessels showed the fetal type of structure of both posterior cerebral arteries. This clinical case is a complex clinical situation of a combination of secondary headaches (post-stroke) in a patient with a primary headache (migraine), which was successfully treated by the combined administration of first-line drugs for the treatment of neuropathic pain in a patient with lacunar infarcts in the medulla oblongata. The treatment of CPSP is a difficult task due to the insufficiently unexplored mechanisms of development, the most effective approaches are those aimed at reducing the increased excitability of neurons.