The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7421 p414
7 October 2006

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Advice deemed as effective as drugs for patients with medicines overuse headache

Advice is as effective as medication for the treatment of medicines overuse headache, an Italian study suggests (Cephalalgia 2006;26:1097).

Researchers divided 120 patients in a headache clinic who had migraine plus medicines overuse headache into three groups. One group received intensive advice from a doctor to withdraw the overused medication. The other two were given a standard inpatient or outpatient treatment programme.

The proportion of patients who were considered to have been successfully treated two months later did not differ significantly across groups, the researchers found. However, they add: “The reproducibility of our findings in different settings, such as primary care, remains to be verified.”