Will Press For More Research Funding and More Public Awareness of the Pain and Suffering Endured By 36 Million American Migraine Sufferers
PHILADELPHIA--(THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10th, 2009)—During last year’s election MAGNUM had the reported on some troubling facts regarding Republican Presidential candidate John McCain’s wife Cindy McCain and how she was being berated by members of the national press, even by the venerable New York Times for having succumbed to her Migraine disease among her other physically frailties. We seem to have to come to a place in our culture where it is tolerated by some to be openly abusive to those with disabilities, as long as those disabilities do not confront the eye of the bystander. Leaving those of us with non-visual diseases and conditions easy prey for those of weak moral character to make their ignorant attacks. Which is just an other reason why Migraine disease awareness is critical, so we are thrilled to tell you Cindy McCain is joining our fight tomorrow by opening a major Migraine medical event called IHS Congress.
To that fact, Cindy McCain, wife of U.S. Senator John McCain, will deliver the keynote address before a global audience of neurologists and Migraine treatment specialists attending the 14th Congress of the International Headache Society (IHS) , hosted by American Headache Society (AHS) September 10-13, 2009 in Philadelphia. [Mrs. McCain’s speech will be at 4 pm, Thursday, September 10 at the Philadelphia Conference Center.]
Mrs. McCain has suffered with extremely severe Migraines for the last 15 years, some disabling enough to require hospitalization. She is one of more than an estimate 36 million Americans with Migraine.
“Cindy McCain has dedicated her life to making a better life for people around the world,” said Fred D. Sheftell, M.D., president of the AHS. “We are honored and thrilled that someone with her prominence and credibility is willing to stand up and be counted in this silent disease. She is a true hero to Migraine sufferers everywhere.”
In her keynote, Mrs. McCain will call on Migraine specialists to press for more research funding for the diagnosis and treatment of Migraine and to work with political leaders to raise public awareness of the enormous toll Migraine takes on sufferers.
“Migraine is a real disease,” she says. “I am one of the lucky ones who have been diagnosed but still I struggle with the pain and tremendous debilitation of this disease. So many people never get diagnosed or receive effective treatment.”
Mrs. McCain experienced Migraine attacks frequently during her husband’s political campaigns. Ironically, it is not stress and pressure that bring on the Migraines – they seem to be triggered by something sensory: bright lights, sounds, or strong odors.
“My family sometimes doesn’t know what to do when I get one of these attacks,”
she says. “They try to be sympathetic, but the truth is I am absent from my life and theirs for 24 hours or more during and after an attack.”
For many years, no doctor told her she had a real disease called Migraine. “I was so frustrated and in terrible pain. My family doctors and even neurologists did not take it or me seriously and did not prescribe proper treatments that could help me keep it under control.”
Cindy McCain to Deliver Keynote at Migraine Conference
How fitting September is Pain Awareness Month to have Mrs. Cindy McCain lead her voice to that of Migraine disease awareness as MAGNUM is still working with Congress to declare September as Migraine Awareness Month as well. Mrs. McCain believes more research is essential. “I am astonished by the lack of progress in the field and the dearth of medical advances. I mean, there are no specific preventives, and not enough effective treatments,” she notes.
She has a special place in her mission and heart for America’s military veterans.
Iraq war veterans return home with disabling migraine. That’s about three times more prevalent than in the general population,” she says. “No one knows exactly why, but we still need to dig to get to the bottom of this for them and for everyone who suffers with this debilitating disease.” “So many soldiers in combat zones suffer with Migraines,” she notes. “More than 36% of
Mrs. McCain will deliver a three-point message to the assembled neurologists and Migraine researchers at AHS on September 10, 2009:
- Improve the lives of your patients with Migraine by listening, staying aware and understanding how disabling this disease can be.
- Work with political leaders to recognize the public health importance of Migraine and exploit a “brain trust” that increases funding to facilitate integrated multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research networks that enable advances and insights to flow back and forth from the lab to the practicing physician and back again.
- Create a public awareness campaign that raises awareness of this disease for what it is and the enormous physical, medical and emotional toll it takes on sufferers.
Migraineurs can tell you horror stories of how ‘people’ misinterpret artifacts created by the disease for a host of incorrect assumptions. In addition, there are those of you reading this who have struggled as an adult with Migraine attempting to pursue life just as a ‘Normal person’ does. (How is that going for you?) All the time we are pushing ourselves way beyond human condition can endure and of course no one out there but select intimate friends or loved ones have a clue. Sadly in some cases even family and loves ones can fail to ‘get it’ and the struggle in those cases can lead to tragic results. Well after Thursday night that might all begin to change after some of the most talented Migraine medical and scientific experts get to listen to new Migraine advocate Cindy McCain tell our story to them for us, Migraineurs everywhere thank you Mrs. McCain. Or should we have asked you to give them hell?
About the American Migraine Foundation
The American Migraine Foundation is a non-profit foundation supported by the American Headache Society and generous donors dedicated to the advancement of migraine research. The mission of this newly formed foundation is to support innovative research that will lead to improvement in the lives of those who suffer from Migraine and other disabling headaches. (http://www.americanmigrainefoundation.org/)
About the International Headache Society
IHS is an international professional organization with more than 1,000 members working with others for the benefit of people affected by headache disorders. The purpose of IHS is to advance headache science, education, and management, and promote headache awareness worldwide. Its website is www.i-h-s.org.
About the MAGNUM, National Migraine Association
MAGNUM: Migraine Awareness Group: A National Understanding for Migraineurs, was created to bring public awareness utilizing the electronic, print and artistic mediums, to the fact that Migraine is a true biologic neurological disease, to assist Migraine sufferers, their families, and coworkers, and to help improve the quality of life of Migraine sufferers worldwide. Its website is www.migraines.org and their online publication is www.MigraineBlog.com.























