The total number of headache and migraine sufferers has swelled to more than 52 million people in the U.S. alone. One NYC-based physician is hoping to alleviate that number one patient at a time. Dr. Fred Cohen, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and published headache researcher, recently travelled to Seoul, Korea to both attend and lead discussions at the International Headache Congress (IHC), a biennial event that brings together more than 1,500 physicians, scientists, researchers, international experts and healthcare professionals from around the world with an interest in migraine and headache disorders.
Specifically, Dr. Cohen participated on the Membership Committee where he led discussions on how to expand access and headache education to countries that lack headache and neurological societies, as well as discuss how to improve headache education in primary care, where he proposed writing headache treatment guidelines specifically for primary care providers.
“This was the first in-person congress in four years and almost 20 years since being held in Aisa,” said Dr. Cohen. “It is always a privilege to be amongst international colleagues in the headache field to knowledge share and learn about the latest advances in headache treatment.”
Dr. Cohen notes that a few fascinating findings from the ICH include:
- Progress on PACAP, a neuro-peptide that is being examined as a cause of migraine with lots of treatments in the pipeline, including the PACAP-targeted antibody Lu AG09222, which was shown to reduce headache.
- The connection between second messenger signaling and migraine. Second messenger signaling is a is a cellular communication process where an external signal interacts with a cell’s receptor but can’t enter the cell directly. This interaction then triggers the release or production of an internal “second messenger” molecule within the cell. The second messenger then activates specific cellular responses, amplifying the initial signal. The major breakthrough was that second messenger signaling was found to bypass CGRP-blockade. This translates to the possibility that targeting second messenger signaling may be a viable migraine treatment.
“As a life-long headache sufferer, I understand the detrimental effect of head pain on work, daily activities and overall well-being,” adds Dr. Cohen. “The first step to reducing headaches is a trip to the doctor to identify the type of headache and thus the best treatment. Attending this conference gives me new methods of relief for both myself and patients, while solidifying my plan to develop headache management initiatives for primary care providers on a global scale.”
The IHC is held every two years with the next meeting occurring in Brazil in 2025.
For more information visit Dr. Cohen’s website and follow him on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
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