Documentary: Living with migraine and the battle for better brain health
The Lundbeck Foundation now joins ‘Facing Forward’ – an NCD Alliance series produced by BBC StoryWorks. In the short film 25-year-old Malene tells the story about her life with migraine, and how ground-breaking neuroscience and new treatments are now reinstalling hope for a better life.
Malene suffers from chronic migraines, and the search of a treatment that works for her has often felt like a series of doors getting slammed in her face. But through ground-breaking discoveries a team of researchers at the Danish Headache Centre in Copenhagen is making exciting strides in better understanding how our brains and migraines work and bringing new options – and hope – for patients.
1 in 7
Malene is not the only one who suffers. More than 1 billion people – 1 in 7 – suffer from migraine worldwide. This makes it one of the most widespread non-communicable diseases. In fact, brain disorders like headaches and migraines pose an enormous threat to the health and wellbeing of people all over the world – and they are a financial burden to our health systems.
“Over a period of 20 years, one in five Danes are diagnosed with a brain disorder, and the annual cost to Danish society is 16 billion Euros. According to a 2010 study, the cost of brain disorders in Europe was close to 800 billion EUROS a year. But more importantly, think about the impact brain diseases have on people’s lives. We have to do something about it,” says Lene Skole, CEO of the Lundbeck Foundation and carries on:
“There is still so much we don’t know about our wonderful brain and what keeps it healthy and strong. Just as we are witnessing in the field of migraine, we hope to see significant progress in diagnosing and treating other brain diseases. Our hope is that with continued research we will have scientific breakthroughs and new treatments for brain disorders, including the most common mental disorders that affect so many people today,” says Lene Skole.
The film emphasizes the need for pushing the boundaries of brain research across sectors and scientific disciplines as well as the need for companies to pursue this challenge.
“Hopefully, the long-term investments in brain research will deliver the results and provide ways to ease the suffering of people with brain diseases all over the world,” says Lene Skole.
More about ‘Facing Forward’
Facing Forward is a series of 25 short films and 10 articles from around the world. The series seeks to raise awareness of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and highlight the stories of people who are living with NCDs across the globe, as well as those of the communities, institutions and private sector who are leading the way to prevent and control NCDs. The short films are produced by BBC Global News’ commercial content production team, BBC StoryWorks, and launched as part of the NCD Alliance campaign.
