MAGNUM In the Press

Help For Migraines Has Arrived

USA Today
November 11, 2005
by Kathleen Fackelmann

Help for migraines has arrived.

Michael John Coleman had a single migraine that lasted 17 days, a period of intense pain, vomiting, no sleep and despair that the attack would never end.

"I don't know how I lived through it," he says.

Coleman's attack is just one example of the disability caused by migraine headaches, a condition that afflicts about 28 million Americans, according to the Chicago-based National Headache Foundation.

The typical migraine can cause throbbing pain for anywhere from four hours to several days and is often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound, says R. Michael Gallagher, director of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Headache Clinic in Moorestown. Continue reading...

Suffering Is Not An Option

The New York Daily News
April 13, 2005
by Susan Kreimer

When is a headache not just a plain headache anymore? If you're among the 32 million Americans battling migraines, it's a question you have pondered at length. Before an accurate diagnosis, you wondered: Will this ever go away?

"Everyone touched by migraines should at least have a basic understanding of the disease mechanics," says Michael John Coleman, executive director of MAGNUM, the National Migraine Association. Continue reading...

Coping With Challenges

The Washington Post -- Real Lives
April 1, 2003

Michael John Coleman is an artist. He has also suffered from debilitating Migraines since the age of 6. He remembers the first one vividly, feeling as if his head would explode. He thought everyone else's head hurt and that he was weak because he could not handle the pain. Since then he has lived according to the mantra of his mother, a Migraineur and painter: "Always turn your disadvantage into advantage or life will defeat you."  Continue reading...

Migraine Disease and Art

EHF News
European Headache Federation
July, 2002

Read this newsletter...

Heading Off Migraine Pain

The Washington Times
1999
by Karen Goldberg Golf

Michael John Coleman was in first grade when he felt the first migraine headache that made him feel as though he was being hit by a baseball bat. The headaches continued into adulthood, occurring several times a month and lasting a few hours to more than two weeks.

"I remember sitting in class and seeing lightning bolts before my eyes," says Mr. Coleman, an Alexandria artist in his late 30s, of the migraine "aura" that often precedes the headache. "It makes you unemployable. Looking back, I don't know how I have lived through migraines."  Continue reading...

Oh, That Aching Migraine

WilmingtonStar
February 19, 2002
by Amy Hotz, Staff Writer

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee fought on opposing sides during the Civil War, but they   shared a common enemy: migraines. 

Lewis Carroll tried to find a cure for his migraines, but with little success.

Later, he used the auras from his attacks to create the vivid psychedelic imagery that made Alice's Adventures in Wonderland his most recognized work.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates that 28 million Americans suffer from migraines. About 75 percent of Americans affected by migraines are women, according to the institute. That's about 21 million people. For most, the illness doesnít come with a silver lining. Debilitating symptoms affect their careers, relationships and self-esteem.  Continue reading...

Migraines, Causes Only Partially Understood

The Houston Chronicle
Sports Section, Page 1; Saturday, February 9, 2002
by Jayne Custred

REBECCA Thurman was driving her car the first time a migraine pounded into her life.

She was at a stoplight and noticed she was seeing only parts of things in front of her. Her peripheral vision was gone, and she had this strange feeling of motion that was starting to make her nauseous.

"I managed to get home. Then the pain came within 30 minutes," said Thurman, who lives in The Woodlands. "It was such tremendous pain and lasted probably for four hours. Any kind of movement at all left me so nauseous. And the left side of my body felt numb, including half of my face. It was very scary. I thought I was having a mini-stroke."  Continue reading...

Super Bowl Draws Attention To Migraines

The Chicago Tribune
TEMPO, Page 1; Thursday, February 5, 1998
by Bob Condor, Tribune Staff Writer

There are numerous triggers that can bring on pain for migraine sufferers. Terrell Davis, star running back of pro football's champion Denver Broncos, recently discovered a particularly unlikely one: a kick in the head.

In the first quarter of the Super Bowl, Davis was inadvertently kicked during a tackle and needed to be helped off the field. Quickly Davis realized he was on the verge of a migraine attack, which happens to him a few times each year.  Continue reading...

Taking Great Pains With Their Work

The Washington Post
Style Section; January 1, 1996
by Eric Brace, Washington Post Staff Writer

If it's true that you have to suffer for your art, Michael John Coleman must think that enough is enough. A local fine photographer and artistic director of Alexandria's Principle Gallery, Coleman is a chronic migraine sufferer, and has helped mount a show to raise awareness of the affliction.

The exhibit is "Small Works," featuring more than 150 artworks by 15 artists, most of them local, including painters B.J. Anderson and David Corcoran, sculptor David Terry and Coleman himself. The participants are all either "migraineurs," as Coleman calls his fellow sufferers, or are "friends or colleagues of people who have migraines," he says.  Continue reading...

The Misery of Migraines

Alexandria Journal
Cover Story, Feburary, 1998
by Rebecca Cherry, Journal Staff Writer

It starts with flashing lights. Lightning bolts across the eyes. Blind spots. Numbness. Nausea. Half his head begins to throb with a pain that could last for days. Michael John Coleman, like more than 18 million Americans, suffers from migraine headaches.

"Light hurts, even sound hurts," said the 36-year-old Alexandria, VA., resident, describing an attack. "It's like being struck by a force you can't see." Continue reading...

Robb, Moran, and Donley Support Migraine Disease Awareness

Old Town Crier
1997

Second Annual Migraine Disease Awareness Small Works Exhibition opened earlier this winter at Old Town's Principle Gallery to a diverse, enthusiastic audience. Migraine Awareness Group: a National Understanding for Migraineurs (M.A.G.N.U.M.) orchestrated the event to bring this invisible handicap to public attention. The awareness show and MAGNUM's disease awareness activities, made possible in part by a grant from GlaxoWellcome, has the support of U.S. Senators Charles Robb and Charles Grassley, U.S. Congressmen James P. Moran and Bill Paxon, the Congressional Caucus on Woman's Issues, Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley and others. Continue reading...

MAGNUM Force Aids Head Throb

Alexandria Journal
Cover story, January 28, 1997
by Gordon Lubold, Journal Staff Writer

Migraine sufferers say they wouldn't wish their illness on anybody, but they'd like people to appreciate how it feels when their head is about to explode. "It literally feels like you're being hit by a baseball bat," said Michael John Coleman, a migraine sufferer who is capable of describing his pain more graphically when called on. Coleman is also executive director of an Alexandria group called MAGNUM, or Migraine Awareness Group - a National Understanding for Migraineurs. The lobbies the public and both local and National political leaders in the hope they'll recognize that people who are suffering from a migraine aren't just having a bad day. They're suffering from an illness. And they have some high-powered support. First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Reps. James P. Moran Jr., D-8th, and Connie Morella, Md., believe in the groupís mission, and U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley have also sent letters to the group. In order to get the public's attention, MAGNUM is displaying artwork done by migraine sufferers at the Principle Gallery in Old Town, where the non-profit group is also based. MAGNUM is also gearing up for a bigger exhibit on Capitol Hill in May. Continue reading...

Basilar Artery Migraines Are Rare, But Potentiall Dangerous

The Inquirer
Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., 1998
Health & Science
Ask Dr. H. by Mitchess Hecht

Question: My daughter had a sudden headache with loss of the use of her right side, slurring of speech, and facial muscle weakness. Hospital tests indicated that she hadn't had a stroke. About five weeks later, she was again hospitalized with the same symptoms. She was finally diagnosed as having an unusual type of a migraine headache, known as a basilar artery migraine. What can you tell me about this?

Answer: This is a very interesting and unusual type of migraine headache, because it's one of those rare examples of a migraine that can cause "mini-strokes" or even a stroke.  Continue reading...

Migraine Sufferers Thankful To Senators Robb, Coverdell and Speaker Gingrich...

Old Town Crier
September, 1997

The Alexandria based non- profit health care public education organization, MAGNUM, Inc. (Migraine Awareness Group; a National Understanding for Migraineurs), along with many others in the medical community, had a sigh of relief last month. Happy knowing the work they did over the summer with House and Senate offices to convince them to retain language in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 which included "severe pain" in the prudent layperson definition of an "emergency medical condition" for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries was signed into law by President Clinton last month.

Speaking from their new offices in a two hundred year old historic building at 113 South Saint Asaph Street, MAGNUM Legislative Director Terri Miller Burchfield stated; "We are pleased to have received assistance on this matter from certain U.S. Congressional offices, in particular those of Senators Paul Coverdell and Charles Robb and Speaker Newt Gingrich." Continue reading...

Explore Options

The Chicago Tribune
February 12, 1998
by Bob Condor, Staff Writer

Getting to know a local pharmacist is one of the best things the migraine sufferer can do, said Michael John Coleman, who makes sure to send yearly Christmas cards to his friend behind the prescription counter.

"There is so much to learn about migraine drugs," said Coleman, executive director of Migraine Awareness Group: a National Understanding for Migraineurs (M.A.G.N.U.M.) in Alexandria, Va. "New drugs are being approved. There can be significant side effects. It's important to know when to take the medicine, whether it requires an empty or full stomach. Continue reading...

Migraine Expert Joins MAGNUM's Board of Directors

Old Town Crier
October, 1995

Directly across the street from Alexandria City Hall at 315 Cameron Street, the non-profit health care public education organization M.A.G.N.U.M., Inc. has realized another one of it's targets - making top Migraine and headache doctor, Fred D. Sheftell, M.D., F.A.C.P., Director and Founder of The New England Center for Headache and National President of the American Council for Headache Education their Medical Advisor Chair on the Board of Directors. Continue reading...

Davis Rushes Past the Pain of Migraine

MiddlesexNews, Boston

New drugs help him win Super Bowl MVP
by David Guarino, MiddlesexNews Staff Writer
1998

At least 11 million Americans have a new respect for Terrell Davis today.

Almost a quarter of the 45 million Americans who suffer from chronic headaches have migraines. They know the debilitating pain, nausea and instability migraines cause most say they just want to curl up in the fetal position in a quiet, dark room. Continue reading...

MAGNUM's First Migraine Awareness Find Raiser December 1: Small Works Show

Old Town Crier
November, 1996

Directly across the street from City Hall at 315 Cameron Street, a non-profit health care public education organization called M.A.G.N.U.M. Inc., will host it's first fund raising event, an Exhibition Opening, on Friday evening December 1st.

Working out of their art gallery based Headquarters (in the Principle Gallery ), M.A.G.N.U.M. will work with the owners of the striking three level Principle Gallery; Michele Marceau and Susan Hogan, to present a special "Small Works Show" featuring such Nationally Award Winning Artists as B. J. Anderson and Michael John Coleman, both Migraineurs. This special exhibition will also feature many other top artists from around the country. Continue reading...

Against the Migraine

The Sunday Washington Times Journal
Sunday, March 7, 1999
HEALTH
by Suzanne Laranov

Patients battle disease

Thirty years. Three decades. That is about how long Ellen Blau has suffered from headaches.

Blau, now 46 and support group coordinator for the National Headache Foundation, recalls being 16 when the headaches began.

"At first they were only a nuisance that coincided with my menstrual periods," she said. "But by the time I was in my twenties they had become debilitating."

Like many other migraine sufferers, Blau consulted a host of physicians in her search for pain relief. She tried the various medications they prescribed and found most didn’t work. Some worked for a while, however, they eventually stopped being effective. Continue reading...

MAGNUM Officers Spread the Word

December 7, 2995
Business Section
BriefCase

Migraine Awareness Group: a National Understanding for Migraineurs (MAGNUM) board officers Michael John Coleman and Terri J. Miller recently testified on migraine disease before the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Agency for Health Care Policy and Research... Continue reading...

Migraine Sufferers Lobby for Disability Payments

April 20, 1995
by Peter Chisholm

A local artist who suffers from migraines has joined the owners of the Principle Gallery in Alexandria in trying to change federal rules to have migraines classified as a disability.

Michael John Coleman, who makes what he describes as "alternative-process photographic interpretations," said he has won a federal disability judgement from the social security administration after a 19-month battle. Continue reading...

Local Fine Art Photographer Michael John Coleman and His Action Group...

Old Town Crier; March, 1995

HEALTH FORUM
by Chris Johns

It comes upon you at any moment. Okay, not just at any moment, but, migraine sufferer and local photographic artist Michael John Coleman says, sometimes when atmospheric pressure changes or maybe when the hyper-photosensitive sufferer is exposed to too bright light. Being triggered by strong sensory impulses, according to Coleman, a migraine attack comes on like "a relentless animal." After the onslaught, the victim of this misunderstood disease feels as though he has been "beaten up by a force, a gang. It is a physical not a psychological" torture, combining the effects of cerebral, vascular, muscular, and stomach pain. Continue reading...

Daughter Has Rare Migraine Headache Problem

Principle Artisits Support Pain Relief

Migraine Awareness