Aspirin Award 2007

Professor Hans-Christoph Diener is the winner of the 2007 International Aspirin® Award. The acclaimed prize will be presented at the 13th Congress of the International Headache Society (IHC) in Stockholm. Professor Diener, a headache expert and Director of the Neurological Hospital at the University of Essen in Germany, will receive the award from Bayer HealthCare in recognition of his outstanding research.

The German neurologist Professor Hans-Christoph Diener receives the International Aspirin® Award 2007.

Interview - "This prize is an incredible honor for me"

Interview with Professor Hans-Christoph Diener What role does Aspirin® play in the treatment of migraine?
Dr. Diener: Aspirin® has been available for the treatment of migraine for a very long time – almost 110 years, in fact. And it is the world’s most frequently used drug product for the treatment of migraine.

Patients who consult you have already had experience with headache or migraine, and usually negative experiences to boot. How do they react when they learn that over-the-counter Aspirin® is the best remedy for their pain?
Dr. Diener: I always ask the patients first whether they have had any experience with Aspirin® and in which form they take it. If they take a normal tablet to relieve a flu-like cold, I tell them that they should try a soluble form or a chewable tablet, because they quite simply work faster.

What are the crucial differences between Aspirin® and other analgesics?
Dr. Diener: Besides Aspirin®, paracetamol is the substance that is most commonly used. And it has been shown that Aspirin® is better than paracetamol in the treatment of acute migraine attacks.

And in comparison with prescription-only triptans?
Dr. Diener: In direct comparison, Aspirin® and its ingredient acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is just as effective as a triptan. However, a triptan can be effective in patients who are unable to benefit from treatment with Aspirin®.

Does that mean that I should always start treatment with Aspirin®?
Dr. Diener: When a patient consults his or her doctor for the first time asking for advice on how to treat migraine attacks, the doctor will generally first recommend treatment with an analgesic like Aspirin® and, if the analgesic does not have the desired effect, to try out a triptan. The only real exceptions are patients with really severe attacks who are bedridden for three days and completely incapacitated. In cases like that, treatment should start directly with a triptan.

How many patients will be affected by this therapy?
Dr. Diener: We know that about 50 percent of all migraine patients do well when treated with Aspirin®.

When you speak about migraine headaches – does this also apply analogously to tension-type-headaches, which are more common?
Dr. Diener: Aspirin® is effective against tension headaches as well. Triptans, however, are not an alternative in this case because they are not effective against tension headaches.

You have had plenty of experience with headache – as a doctor, but also as a patient. When do you recognize that a migraine attack is coming and how do you react?
Dr. Diener: As with most people, the first symptom is headache, and I take two Aspirin® tablets before it gets really bad – if possible, in soluble form. If my headache has not got much better within two hours, I will take a triptan – which, thank God, is not necessary in 90 percent of the time.

Bayer HealthCare will honor your studies with the International Aspirin® Award 2007. What does this award mean to you as a doctor?
Dr. Diener: This prize is an incredible honor for me, because I suddenly find myself on a level with renowned international scientists. It is one of the most highly endowed prize in the field of pain research and headache.

Does the “prominence” conferred on headaches/migraine headaches by the award have any repercussions or advantages for patients?
Dr. Diener: Headache is certainly a most serious disease which quite simply does not get enough attention from the general public. The World Health Organization, for example, has determined that migraine is the twelfth most serious disease in women. So an award and the PR work that goes with it naturally serves to make the general public aware of what a serious disease migraine really is. In addition, the prize calls attention to the fact that migraine can now be treated effectively.