2016 Cardiologist Ross Sharpe will begin research at Pindara Private Hospital into profiling migraine sufferers to examine why his unique selection process is curing migraine by a ‘simple’ procedure to close a hole in their heart and thereby develop a blood test. A migraine is a specific neurovascular headache that involves a unilateral throbbing pain, usually over the temple region of the head. Additional neurological symptoms or auras can also accompany a migraine, such as seeing stars, temporarily going blind or losing speech. Sufferers of migraines can experience symptoms so severe and sudden that they are mistaken for a stroke including being paralysed down one side of the body. Migraines with auras most often affect women in the productive age range of 20 to 50 and can be a major cause of social and economic disruption in the community. Approximately a quarter of the population has a hole in the heart known as a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) and it is largely unknown why this hole does not close over within three months of birth as it does with the rest of the population. Many of the people with a PFO develop no symptoms at all, while it is understood that, for some, it can be a major contributor to severe migraines with aura. Dr Sharpe says doctors can use suffering from regular severe migraines with aura as a predictor for cardiovascular events occurring in young people such as stroke. “For years it has been recognised that this hole in the heart plays a major role in contributing to migraines and that a PFO is also a risk factor in young people for stroke and cardiovascular death,” Dr Sharpe says. Dr Sharpe was intrigued about this link after receiving feedback from his patients whom he had closed the PFO after a stroke due to clot travelling across the hole. Many indicated that they had suffered severe migraines before the operation were no longer experiencing them. “We have also found that some people also don’t respond in terms of migraines when you close the hole, so it has been a challenge to know which people will have results and which won’t after the procedure.” After presenting his paper at a major international conference in Paris, patients who are regular severe sufferers of migraines with aura and cannot tolerate or have failed to respond to anti-migraine medication are now being referred to Dr Sharpe. “These were generally young people who couldn’t work, had relationships break down, who were depressed and were basically at the end of the road.” “We performed a very specialised brain scan on these patients and found that if you take those patients with a certain size hole and pattern, then close those holes using a 30-minute day case keyhole technique, about 90 percent of them will be completely cured and about another eight percent will go from a severe disabling situation to minimal or no disability.” Dr Sharpe and his team are about to begin a study where blood is taken on both sides of the circulation pre and post closure to determine the biological footprint which is unique to people who suffer migraine, have a PFO and will get better once the hole is closed. Eventually, it is hoped that this study will lead to patients being able to have a blood test that will predict that they have a hole in the heart and that their migraines will be cured from performing the closure procedure. NEWS Pindara Private Diabetes Clinic Nearly 200,000 Queenslanders have Type 2 Diabetes, while 93,000 more have the disease but don't yet know it, and the numbers are increasing. Pindara Private Hospital recognises that early recognition and treatment of diabetes is crucial to the health of our community and as such, has a dedicated, bulk billed Diabetes Clinic and a Credentialed Diabetes Educator and Registered Nurse, Adrian McDonald (RN CDE). Adrian is available to see every patient with diabetes admitted for any reason and also patients admitted for other reasons who find out they have diabetes as well. Adrian says many people don’t know they have Type 2 Diabetes until they are admitted for another reason and diagnosed while in hospital. “Some people don’t recognise that signs such as excessive thirst, increased urination, blurry vision and slow healing wounds are actually warning signs of the disease,” says Adrian, “Some patients come in for a simple surgical procedure and are discharged with a new glucometer and armed with some great new knowledge to control their diabetes.” This is important because untreated Type 2 Diabetes increases the risk of complications such as heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage leading to amputation. “The good news is that if you manage your blood sugar well you can prevent the insidious onset of these terrible complications,” says Adrian. A referral from your doctor is needed to access Pindara Private Diabetes Clinic. The clinic is bulk billed with no out-of-pocket expenses. Pindara set to Begin Study into Curing Migraines pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 11
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Eight
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