Migraine, also known as hemi crania and megrim, is a severe and recurring headache. Commonly known as sick headache, it often affects only one side of the head, and is usually accompanied by nausea, vomiting, visual disturbances, and sensitivity to motion, light sound and odors.

             "The, International Headache Society (HIS) has created a checklist by which migraine can be diagnosed. This is a simplified, standardized and globally accepted diagnostic test for migraine. The following criteria define common migraine, which is the migraine without aura: .

             1.A patient should have had at least five of these headaches.

             2.The headache lasts from 4 to 72 hours.

             3.The headache must have at least two of the following:.

             a.One sided location.

             b.Pulsing or throbbing quality.

             c.Moderate or severe intensity, making daily activities difficult or impossible to perform.

             d.Headache is worsened by routine physical activity. Such a bending over or climbing stairs.

             4.The Headache is accompanied by at least one of the following:.

             a.Nausea and/or vomiting.

             b.Dislike of light (photophobia) or dislike of sound (phonophobia).

             5. Secondary causes of headache are excluded with a normal exam and/or normal CAT or MRI scans." (Tepper, 2004, pg: 3, 4) .

             In some cases of Migraine, post-migraine hangover is also experienced in which sufferers often feel drained of energy after the headache (Heins, 2003). Migraineurs, or the migraine sufferers can be grouped into two categories; those who have warning signs before the painful part of the attack begins, and those who don't. However the people who experience these warning signs or auras are a minority. An aura experience includes seeing imaginary lights, other vision disturbances or numbness on one side of the body. (Harder, 2005). Heins describes auras as:.

             "Typically lasting 5 to 30 minutes, an aura can come in the form of a flickering or zigzag light in the field of vision" (Heins, 2003).

             Man has been searching for preventive methods to severe headaches for all of recorded times.