\n<\/p>\n
People from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience worse migraine care and to fear discrimination because of their condition, a survey by a leading UK charity has found.<\/p>\n
Migraines are characterised by a severe headache, alongside other symptoms including dizziness, numbness and vision problems. About one in seven people in the UK are affected by the condition.<\/p>\n
The representative survey of 2,200 people by the Migraine Trust found that 23% of mixed-ethnicity, 19% of Asian, and 16% of black respondents said their ethnicity had negatively affected their care \u2013 citing poorer treatment and even racism \u2013 compared with only 7% of white respondents.<\/p>\n
Black people were also more likely to fear discrimination or a negative effect on their career owing to migraines, at 37%, compared with just over a quarter (26%) of white respondents.<\/p>\n
Almost a fifth (19%) of Asian respondents and 14% of black respondents said they worried they would not be believed about their migraines, compared with 8% of white respondents.<\/p>\n
Abigail Kabirou, 26, said her ethnicity negatively affected her experience of migraine care. \u201cAs a black woman, the stereotype that we can tolerate more pain deeply affected the care I received,\u201d Kabirou said. \u201cMigraine is already hard enough to explain; there shouldn\u2019t be extra barriers like gender or the colour of your skin making it even harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rob Music, the chief executive of the Migraine Trust, said that the inequities of care people faced \u201ccannot be continued\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is sad to see that so many people avoid seeking support for, or even talking about their migraine for fear it carries social penalties, including job loss and stereotyping. For some, migraine is not only a health condition but adds an additional layer of inequality, with gender, ethnicity and social grade all impacting how they are treated or expected to be treated,\u201d Music said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot let this continue and need action across all levels of society so that people with migraine feel understood, safe and heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
The research found that for all people who experienced migraines, 91% of participants had spoken to a health professional, but many reported being misdiagnosed, dismissed, or inadequately treated.<\/p>\n
Examples included women being told their migraine was hormonal or \u201cjust part of being a woman\u201d, while younger people felt they were dismissed as \u201cexaggerating or seeking attention\u201d.<\/p>\n
Georgina Carr, the chief executive of the Neurological Alliance, said: \u201cThis report shines a harsh and necessary light on the reality that migraine is not experienced equally. Your gender, ethnicity or income should never determine whether you are believed, supported, or able to access the care you need, yet that is precisely what too many people living with migraine are facing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThese findings echo what we see across the neurological community: people being dismissed, misdiagnosed, or left to cope alone because the system is not designed with them in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urgently need action from employers, healthcare leaders and policymakers to close these gaps. Tackling the inequalities laid bare in this report is essential if we are serious about improving neurological care and ensuring no one is left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NHS spokesperson said: <\/strong>\u201cAll patients, regardless of their background, ethnicity or gender, should have access to high-quality care, and everyone deserves to feel their concerns are listened to. We know migraines can be extremely debilitating for those who experience them, and we encourage people to reach out to their local GP practice for support as there are a range of treatment options available on the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience worse migraine care and to fear discrimination because of their condition, a survey by a leading UK charity has found. Migraines are characterised by a severe headache, alongside other symptoms including dizziness, numbness and vision problems. About one in seven people in the UK are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[165,20122,8687,189,37,18774,7180,568],"class_list":{"0":"post-35834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-care","9":"tag-dependent","10":"tag-ethnicity","11":"tag-finds","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-migraine","14":"tag-quality","15":"tag-survey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}