an article about migraine

Question

there are a few of sentence that i don't quite understand. hope someone can help me.

1 some of sufferers see auras and visual distortions as the pain sets in. how should i translate "seeing auras"? is it really "seeing auras"or"having illusions"?

2 the drugs don't work for all sufferers (including a 10% core of severe cases).what is the meaning of "core"? please paraphrase this sentence if possible.

3 50% sufferers don't consult a doctor at all, and instead may resort to handfuls of OTC painkillers. what is the meaning of "handfuls"? does it mean a few of painkillers or does it mean lots of (handful by handful)painkillers?

Pieanne · Accepted Answer

Mashmellow
there are a few of sentence that i don't quite understand. hope someone can help me.

1 some of sufferers see auras and visual distortions as the pain sets in. how should i translate "seeing auras"? is it really "seeing auras"or"having illusions"? No, here an aura is a halo around persons (usually the head)

2 the drugs don't work for all sufferers (including a 10% core of severe cases).what is the meaning of "core"? please paraphrase this sentence if possible. There are cases for which nothing works (10% of the whole); the core = the center

3 50% sufferers don't consult a doctor at all, and instead may resort to handfuls of OTC painkillers. what is the meaning of "handfuls"? does it mean a few of painkillers or does it mean lots of (handful by handful)painkillers? It's lots of them - like taking painkillers by the handful & stuffing them into their mouth -

BarbaraPA · Answer

If I may...

I believe that aura just means you're seeing vague areas of color - not necessarily around the person's head. I would translate it exactly as "seeing auras."

Makes your grateful you don't suffer from them, reading this.

Pieanne · Answer

No, you're right, in the case of migraines, the auras can come around about anything. But I would say they are not just vague areas of colour, the colours are very/too brilliant and hurt the person.

Mashmellow · Answer

thank you both for your help!

MrPedantic · Answer

I would interpret the "auras" as the flashing bright lights and patches of colour, and the "visual distortions" as the interferences in your field of vision – the gradually growing blind spots and distorted angles of things, etc.

MrP

CalifJim · Answer

Have none of you ever had this happen to you?

Mr. P comes closest of all to describing what it is -- flashing bright lights and patches (I would say patterns - even geometric patterns) of color -- these can be seen even when you close your eyes, by the way. The distorted vision - in my case anyway - takes the form of slowly increasing tunnel vision, the visual field slowly shrinking from the outside inward. "aura" means something quite different when speaking of migraines than it does when speaking of the occult or occult practices or when speaking in more general terms.

(My condition is not at all debilitating, however, and not frequent. It's called "migraine aura without headache". Unfortunately it can be triggered by sudden bright lights, so I don't like to be photographed with flash, needless to say!)

CJ

MrPedantic · Answer

That's interesting, CJ. It's a long time since I've had one; but my visual field used to disappear from the inside outwards! (And yes, "geometric patterns" is better.)

an article about migraine

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions