migraine

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migraine (mee-grayn) n. a neurovascular disorder in a genetically predisposed individual in which an instability in the brainstem is triggered by a variety of stimuli (e.g. foods, light, stress). This results in a recurrent throbbing headache that characteristically affects one side of the head. The headache is often accompanied by prostration, nausea and vomiting, and photophobia. The patient sometimes has forewarning of an attack (see aura).
—migrainous adj.

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