Letter from the Editor
/
If you’re like me, Spring 2022 may be a time marked by cautious optimism uneasily blended with a grim sense of foreboding.
Has COVID receded to become, like its coronavirus brethren, no more a nuisance than the common cold? or will a new strain emerge, unprecedented in both its ability to infect and its virulence, that will recall the darkest days of 2020? Will America’s economy strengthen? or will the specter of unchecked inflation erode our savings and drive the cost-of-living to levels unsustainable for millions of our fellow citizens? Will the continued evolution of the “social media” and artificial intelligence take a positive turn that enhances our humanity? or will teenage suicides continue to escalate as Orwellian algorithms devised by large platforms direct us not just what to buy but also what to think and how to behave to immediately follow?
To take a more global perspective, will the present not-so-cold war pitting democracy against authoritarianism yield a more positive and potent alliance between this planet’s democracies? or will the conflict escalate to a level that threatens Earth’s very existence? And speaking of Earth’s health and existence, will we effectively address the momentous environmental challenges we face? or will we bicker and dither until the heat escalates to a level where we, the frog, can no longer escape the skillet?
Why do I raise these huge and uncomfortable questions in a magazine devoted to the relatively minor mission of improving the quality of life for individuals with migraine? Well, to live in a time of such challenge and ambiguity is stressful, and migraine thrives on stress. From nation to nation, culture to culture, race to race and ethnicity to ethnicity, migraineurs invariably rank “stress” as the #1 trigger/aggravator of their headache disorder.
In this issue we consider alternatives to medication for reduction of migraine burden, and many of these alternatives in one way or another exert their positive effect by assisting in stress reduction. We have challenges that must be faced. Better to take on the task with migraine controlled and stress effectively managed.
