Oxford scientists pinpoint best drug for beating migraines - and the prescription pill that's no better than paracetamol By Kate Pickles Health Editor For The Daily Mail Published: 23:30 BST, 18 September 2024 | Updated: 23:30 BST, 18 September 2024 e-mail View comments Some new migraine drugs are no more effective than paracetamol for treating attacks, a major study found. A cheaper class of medication – known as triptans – were found to be the most effective oral treatment in the comprehensive analysis by Oxford University researchers. Typically costing around a pound a pill, they beat newer drugs, gepants, in pain suppression during attacks - experienced by up to 190,000 people every day.
Experts said triptans are ‘underused’ and should be made more widely available to millions of sufferers. But the Migraine Trust said it was often ‘a painful trial and error’ to find what works for individuals and urged doctors not to discount other medications. An analysis found all drugs were more effective at relieving the pain of a migraine after two hours than the placebo, and the majority eased pain for up to 24 hours.
Scientists looked at 137 controlled trials involving almost 90,000 patients who were given one of 17 drugs or a placebo. These included triptans; eletriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan, which constrict blood vessels in the brain and reduce the release of inflammatory chemicals. A new range of medicines including ubrogepant, atogepant and Rime.