In honor of National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, the Will Erwin Headache Research Foundation has dedicated the entire month of June to spreading awareness about debilitating headaches. Debilitating headaches, including migraines and cluster headaches, are particularly hard to handle as there is currently no cure. Scientists have been researching headaches since the early 18th century, but the research is still in the early stages. Today, the biggest challenges facing headache research are a lack of awareness and as a consequence, lacking funding.
Challenges
Though headaches and migraines, in particular, are extremely common (i.e. 12% of the population), awareness is fairly low. Many people are unaware of the distinct differences between regular headaches and migraines or don’t understand the debilitating nature of the side effects of migraines. The lack of awareness surrounding debilitating headaches also contributes to the low funding for research. Therefore, the mission is twofold. First, we must increase awareness and understanding of these debilitating disorders, so that funding may also increase and back the progression of research in this field.
How to Help
Supporting headache research and the mission to find a cure is simple. Share your knowledge about migraines with the world and inform those around you of the differences. Another impactful thing you can do is contribute to the cause. Aside from National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, The Will Erwin Headache Research Foundation raises money year-round to support our own research efforts. To contribute, please visit – https://cureheadaches.org/contribute/.
The Foundation was founded in 2014 after Will Erwin, a cluster headache sufferer, lost hope and took his own life. The mission of the Foundation to find a cure is dedicated to the other families around the world that also have sufferers. Our goal is to end the pain for our headache heroes so that no other family has to endure the loss of a loved one.