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  • NEWS FEATURE

Migraine is more than a headache — a radical rethink offers hope to one billion people

Drugs that can prevent or relieve migraine attacks are only effective for some people. Research is starting to untangle the reasons why.
By
  1. Fred Schwaller

    1. Fred Schwaller is a freelance writer based in Berlin.

Conceptual illustration showing a person suffering from migraine.

Illustration: Aleksandra Czudżak

Andrea West remembers the first time she heard about a new class of migraine medication that could end her decades of pain. It was 2021 and she heard a scientist on the radio discussing the promise of gepants, a class of drug that for the first time seemed to prevent migraine attacks. West followed news about these drugs closely, and when she heard last year that atogepant was approved for use in the United Kingdom, she went straight to her physician.

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Nature 638, 600-602 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00456-x

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