Migraine charity calls for NHS funding for Botox jabs

11^th July 2011 - Funding should be made available to treat some migraine patients with Botox injections, according to a charity.

The Migraine Trust says that since Botox is licensed for treating people who have chronic migraine, the money should be available for them to receive the treatment for free.

Disabling condition

Chronic migraine is estimated to affect around 700,000 adults in the UK - around 2% of the population. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the use of Botox (Botulinum Toxin type A) in July 2010 as a preventative treatment for those with chronic migraine, but The Migraine Trust says the vast majority of people with the condition have no access to the treatment on the NHS.

"Chronic migraine is the most disabling subtype of migraine," says Wendy Thomas, the charity's Chief Executive in a statement. "There are chronic migraine patients who have responded extremely well to Botox with a reduction of headache days and migraine attacks along with a significant reduction in the usage of acute treatments. The Migraine Trust strongly feels that as an approved licensed treatment, Botox should be made available to those who would benefit most from it and that it should be funded by the NHS."

Migraine treatment

Botox is best known as an anti-wrinkle jab, but it can also be injected in between 31 and 39 sites in the head and neck muscles for the relief of chronic migraine symptoms. It is not known how the jabs are supposed to work, but this action appears to be distinct from its well known paralysing effect on muscles that make it popular as an anti-ageing treatment.

Dr Fayyaz Ahmed, Consultant Neurologist at Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, has treated a number of chronic migraine patients with Botox. He tells us: "There are some patients who I think will respond extremely well to this treatment, although it's obviously not a recipe for all - and people need to be assessed by someone who knows what he or she is doing."

Earlier this year, a review in the BMJ’s Drug & Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) found the evidence for how effective Botox is as a treatment for chronic migraine "limited and unconvincing" and that it could lead to complications in some patients.

Ahmed, who is also Chair of the British Association for the Study of Headache, says this is not his experience among patients he treats. "I think this is a good treatment because it doesn't really have many side-effects and is very well tolerated," he says.

Ahmed continues: "What we're saying as professionals is that every licensed treatment should be made available to people who would benefit most from it."