title: Antiepileptic drugs in the treatment of chronic headaches.
abstract: In recent years, anticonvulsant drugs (AEDs) have been considered promising drugs in the prevention of migraine and other forms of headache, based on their action on the metabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate. To date many AEDs are being evaluated for headache preventive treatment. The results are often encouraging even if not conclusive except for valproate, which has been extensively investigated and has been found to be effective and well tolerated in the preventive therapy of migraine. Other AEDs seem to be important in the treatment of patients with resistant headaches, with both migraine and epilepsy comorbid with mood and anxiety disorders or in neuropathic pain syndromes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Milan-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, I-20052 Monza (MI), Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Agostoni
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frigerio
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santoro
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006261:Headache / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid