ARC Journal of Neuroscience Volume 3, Issue 3 2018, PP 10-16 ISSN 2456-057X DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2456-057X.0303003 www.arcjournals.org ARC Journal of Neuroscience Page | 10 The Effect of Memantine on Prophylaxis of Chronic Migraine Headache Davood Kashipazha, Sahereh Emadi* Neurology department, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 1. INTRODUCTION Migraine headache is a very common neurobiological headache disorder that is caused by increased central nervous system irritability and is among the most debilitating diseases in the world. Chronic migraine refers to a migraine headache in which the patient has had a migraine headache for more than 15 days per month for a period of at least 8 months, including at least 8 days of full migraine headache. Most cases of chronic migraine are associated with a gradual increase in the frequency of migraine headaches (1). Several extensive studies in Europe and the United States have shown that the prevalence of migraine headaches in women is about 20% and in men is about 6% (2). According to estimates, 15 percent of the world's population is infected with migraine headaches. Migraine is a recurring and recurrent headache that has many effects on the patient, family, and community, due to its chronicity and high prevalence, and it imposes a heavy burden on various communities and social life each year (3, 4). Depression, chronic fatigue, maternity leave, family problems and drug dependence, are some of the Abstract Introduction: Migraine is a common headache disorder that is caused by increased central nervous system irritability and is one of the most debilitating diseases in the world. In recent years, there has been a lot of interest in the use of glutamate mediators for migraine prophylaxis, but there is still no research on the prophylaxis of chronic migraine headaches with memantine in our country. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of memantine on the improvement of the severity of chronic migraine headaches Methods: A total of 54 patients with chronic migraine referred to Golestan and Imam Hospital of Ahvaz were randomly divided into two groups: memantine and placebo. Both groups received 50 mg topiramate with a dose of 25 mg and doubled dose in two weeks. In the memantine group, memantine was administered at a dose of 20 mg daily, which reached to this dose 4 weeks. The severity, duration and frequency of migraine attacks at the beginning of the study, the end of the first month, the second month, and the third and fourth months of the study were recorded during the follow up. Results: The mean pain intensity based on the VAS score was not significantly different between the two groups at the beginning of the study and at the end of the first month. At the end of the second month, however, the end of the third month and the end of the fourth month was significantly lower in the memantine group. At the beginning of the study, at the end of the first month and the end of the second month, the average number of days the person had migraine did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, at the end of the third month and the end of the fourth month, the mean of the days of migraine patients was significantly lower in the memantine group than in the placebo group. After 4 months of treatment, MIDAS score in the memantine group was 22.44 ± 10.62, while in the placebo group it was 14.74 ± 1.78 (p <0.0001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, there was a significant difference between the two memantine and placebo groups in decreasing the severity, frequency and duration of chronic migraine headaches after at least two months of treatment with memantine, indicating the effect of memantine on treatment and prevention Chronic migraine headaches Keywords: Migraine, Memantine, MIDAS Questionnaire, VAS Score. *Corresponding Author: Sahereh Emadi , Neurology department, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran, Email: dr.sahereh.emadi@gmail.com