I was diagnosed with migraines when I was 13. As a teenager they were would be debilitating. I assumed that it was just something that I was unlucky enough to inherit from my father. I ran across this book and devoured it. When ever I went through episoses, I would turn to this book. Plenty made sense in this book, but then it also increased my sense of frustration and helplessness. I eventually earned a degree in psychology and learned a lot more about migraines from other sources (as well as personal experience). I learned about food triggers and enviromental triggers and took that information and changed my lifestyle. I also stopped reading this book. I now get migraines only a couple times a year. It is informative, but missing a lot.

Finally, someone who knows how all the aspects of my life and health are related! Allergies, mental illness, stress - etc., etc. After years of asking medical professionals about "the jaggies" in my vision,I finally understand that it's a visual migrain and is not a precursor to a stroke, as I thought 10 years ago (when I had one following visual migrains). This incredible man is invaluable to the science of neurology and to imparting to "consumers" what the medical profession has discovered in this field. Thank You, Oliver Sacks!

Are migraines curable? Mine are gone. And during the time when they were at their worst, this book by Oliver Sacks was my salvation, my companion, and my way of coping. Information about the symptoms of migraine was invaluable to me; aspects of my health that had baffled, frightened and defeated me were explained here in ways that I could comprehend. Migraines left me, apparently forever, several years ago, and I'm convinced that this book was instrumental in that. The more I read, the more I understood, the easier it was for me to deal with the problem. Oliver Sacks is a healer, and this book was a healing experience for me. Highly recommended. I recommend for all migraine sufferers that they explore this. And of course, the book is beautifully written as are all Oliver Sacks' books. His contribution to health care and health study in our time is immense -- beyond calculation. --- In response to other reviews posted here, let me suggest that there are many things migraine sufferers can do which might help them. To say simply that migraine is incurable, that it's genetic -- that perhaps invites a pessimism about the problem which does not serve the people experiencing this pain. This is a great book.

Sacks wrote in this book that the more up-to-date a book about
migraine, the less space it is given to the neurological conditions
called the aura. This statement is still true, and yes, I agree with
some of the other reviewers, Sacks book is not really up-to-date. But
Sacks at least devoted a large part of this monograph to illustrating
the varied presentations of visual auras, e.g. a selection of 13
images from the Migraine Art collection. Beside the visual aura many
more neurological symptoms are described. Given that migraines are
frequently misdiagnosed due to the strange symptoms, the focus on the
aura alone makes this book worth buying. It open up to many people,
not just the migraine sufferers, the fascinating world of brain function
(and unfortunately dysfunction), as do all the other wonderfull books
from Sacks.

It is a well known fact that migraine is hereditary and
incurable at this time. Sometimes the pain can be reduced to
a tolerable level for a time. Patients should be advised of
of this before any treatment is attempted. I find nothing in
the reviews of the book MIGRAINE by Oliver Sacks disclocing
this pertinent information.