woman with migraine lying down on couch holding headJune is National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, and our Omaha disability benefits attorneys would like to do our part to raise awareness of migraine disabilities. We've put together some facts and statistics to help you better understand this debilitating medical condition.

Facts About Migraines

The chances are good that you or someone you care about suffers from migraines. Migraines affect 25 percent of American women and 10 percent of American men. Here are some other facts about migraines:

  • Many people believe that migraines are psychosomatic. However, migraine is a neurological disorder.
  • A migraine is more than a headache. Other symptoms of migraines include nausea, vomiting, neck pain, eye pain, and hypersensitivity to light, sound, or smell.
  • Approximately 39 million Americans suffer from migraines.
  • Half of migraine sufferers are undiagnosed and have never seen a doctor for the condition.
  • Migraines are the seventh leading cause of disability.
  • Approximately 75 percent of migraine sufferers are women of child-bearing age.
  • Migraines can affect children as young as five years old.
  • Half of migraine sufferers experienced their first migraine attack before the age of 12.
  • There is no cure for migraines.
  • There are migraine treatments, but medications do not work for all migraine sufferers. Many migraine medications have serious side-effects.
  • A typical migraine attack lasts from four to 72 hours.
  • More than 90 percent of migraine sufferers are unable to function during an attack.
  • Migraine causes more lost years of health than ovarian cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and tuberculosis combined, yet it receives less than one percent of the funding from the National Institutes of Health.
  • Migraines and other headaches cost the economy $31 billion each year.
  • People who suffer from migraines have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not include migraines or headaches in its disability listings.

Although the SSA doesn't recognize migraines in its Blue Book—a compiled list of conditions and impairments that qualify for disability—it considers a person disabled if they're unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable impairment (MDI) that will result in death or is expected to last for a year or more.

Contact Cuddigan Law for Migraine Disability Benefits

If you've been diagnosed with primary headache disorder and the SSA determines that your disorder severely limits your physical and mental ability to do routine, typical activities and prevents you from holding a job, it may grant disability benefits. Contact Cuddigan Law to speak with an intake specialist for free about your situation.

Sean D. Cuddigan
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SSA and VA Disability Attorney in Omaha, Nebraska
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