Migraine affects about 1 in 7 people worldwide and is the second-leading cause of disability globally. Treatment includes pills for acute attacks, preventive medications taken daily, and newer anti-CGRP drugs that have transformed prevention for many people. Research now focuses on understanding migraine's root causes and developing treatments that work faster and for more people.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing oral CGRP antagonists that work within an hour for acute attacks, monthly or quarterly injectable preventives, nerve stimulation devices, and drugs that target different migraine pathways like PACAP and orexin. Studies are also investigating why some people respond to one treatment but not another, and whether treating migraine early can prevent chronic daily headache.
CGRP antagonists
Pills like rimegepant and zavegepant work quickly to stop attacks and can also prevent future migraines when taken regularly. Injectable anti-CGRP antibodies like erenumab, approved since 2018, cut monthly migraine days in half for many people.
Device therapies
Non-invasive nerve stimulators worn on the head, arm, or neck offer drug-free options. Several are FDA-cleared for acute treatment or prevention, and new trials are testing devices that predict and abort attacks before pain starts.
Novel pathways
PACAP-blocking drugs target a signaling molecule involved in migraine. Orexin antagonists, already used for sleep, are being tested for chronic migraine since orexin affects pain and wakefulness.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on migraine frequency, prior treatments tried, whether headaches are episodic or chronic, and presence of aura.
What types of trials are currently open
- Acute treatment trials — Testing medications or devices taken at the start of a migraine to stop pain and other symptoms within hours.
- Prevention trials — Testing daily pills, monthly injections, or devices to reduce the number of migraine days per month.
- Chronic migraine trials — Studies for people with headaches on 15 or more days per month, testing treatments to reduce frequency and disability.
- Device trials — Testing nerve stimulation or other non-drug approaches for acute relief or prevention.
- Observational studies — Following people with migraine over time to identify triggers, track treatment response, and understand who develops chronic migraine.
Recently added Migraine trials
Laser Acupuncture for Chronic Migraine: Clinical Response, Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Patterns, and Brain Function
The PRISM-CM study will test whether 810-nanometer laser acupuncture reduces migraine days and related symptoms in adults with chronic migraine. Laser acupuncture uses low-level laser light at acupuncture points without inserting needles. The study will also assess safety and explore whether clinical features, traditional Chinese medicine syndrome patterns, and brain function are associated with differences in treatment response. This study will enroll 135 participants at Taichung Veterans General Hospital: 90 patients with chronic migraine and 45 healthy volunteers. After keeping a headache diary for 4 weeks before treatment, patients will be assigned by chance to active laser acupuncture or sham laser acupuncture, with 45 patients in each group. Sham treatment uses the same acupuncture points and procedures but does not deliver therapeutic laser energy. Healthy volunteers will not be randomized and will receive active laser acupuncture as a comparison group. All three groups will receive 8 sessions over 4 weeks. Patients with chronic migraine, outcome assessors, and staff analyzing brain images and study data will not be told which treatment was assigned. The practitioners providing treatment will know the assignment. All participants will complete questionnaires and standardized traditional Chinese medicine assessments before treatment and monthly through 12 months after treatment begins. The traditional Chinese medicine assessments use symptom questions, tongue images, and pulse examinations to identify patterns of signs and symptoms, called syndrome patterns. Patients with chronic migraine will also continue recording headache diaries. The main outcome is the change in the number of migraine days per month from before treatment to week 12. Other outcomes include headache severity and duration, days using medicines to treat headache attacks, headache-related limitations, anxiety and depressive symptoms, sleep, sensitivity to light and sound, quality of life, and adverse events. All three groups will undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before treatment and at week 12 after treatment begins. An additional MRI at week 4 is optional and depends on participant willingness and study resources. The scans will examine brain structure, connections between brain regions, and brain activity at rest and during laser stimulation of acupuncture points. Researchers will compare active and sham treatment in patients with chronic migraine. Healthy volunteers will provide a reference for brain imaging and questionnaire findings but will not be included in the main analysis of migraine treatment effects. Exploratory analyses will examine whether clinical features and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome patterns before treatment are associated with greater or smaller treatment benefits. The study will also compare patients with marked improvement and those with little or no improvement, and examine how brain changes relate to clinical response and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome patterns.
Acute Treatment of Vestibular Migraine by Rimegepant
To evaluate whether rimegepant improves acute vestibular symptoms and accompanying discomforts in patients with vestibular migraine.
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