Most people suffering from frequent headaches and migraines “accept it as a fatality and believe that there is no solution, which is not true”. It is a disease “ with clinical diagnosis and treatable through medication ”, highlighted neurologist Raquel Gil-Gouveia in the TV show “Sociedade Civil”, broadcasted on RTP2 last February 10. The director of the Headache Centre from Hospital da Luz Lisboa integrated the group of specialists invited by the TV station, to discuss the topic of chronic pain. “Migraine is the second cause of an incapacitating life, at world level. One-seventh of the population suffers from migraine”, stated Raquel Gil-Gouveia. After explaining that, unlike other diseases manifested through pain, in this case, “the disease itself consists in feeling pain, for there is nothing structurally wrong with the head or the brain”, the specialist talked about the importance of recognizing the disease and resorting to a physician. The fact is that “migraine is really a disease for life”, but it can be controlled and treated , she added. TV show “Sociedade Civil” (Pain, without pain) Furthermore, the specialist alerted to the need of fighting the stigma associated to the disease: “Migraine takes years off your life and, moreover, patients are misunderstood by family, friends and colleagues. It is important that those who do not suffer from migraine understand the impact it has on these patients”, who lose quality of life and are incapacitated to work or study, for instance. It was in the goal of “helping to uncover this invisible disease”, that the Portuguese Society of Migraine and MiGRA Portugal (Portuguese Association of Patients with Migraine and Headache) produced, together with singer Rita Redshoes, the theme “ Migraine (What Can’t You See? ”, with lyrics by Raquel Gil-Gouveia.
