But when it comes to research and funding, migraines have been less investigated than other ailments. Despite the enormous economic costs, they continue to receive the least public funding of any neurological illness in Europe. In the US, where migraines affect an estimated 15% of people, the condition received $22m in research funding (£17m) in 2017. Asthma, which affects half as many people, received 13 times that amount ($286m or £218m); diabetes, affecting two-thirds as many people, received 50 times as much ($1.1bn or £84m). (Of course, it’s worth noting that asthma and diabetes are potentially life-threatening conditions).

When the condition is studied, it often is affected by a trend seen in other healthcare research: most migraine research on animals has been done on males even though women suffer from migraines more.

Given the prevalence of migraines among women, this apparent neglect could be a result of how physicians tend to underrate pain in female patients. It may also reflect the historic – and similarly gendered – associations between migraines and mental illness.

Heady history

These throbbing headaches are one of the human race’s oldest recorded ailments. Ancient Egyptian scriptures from 1200 BC detail migraine-like headaches; Hippocrates wrote about the visual disturbances and vomiting commonly associated with the disorder.