Severe migraine attacks can have a significant impact on people's lives, even damaging their chances of career progression, a new survey has found.

According to the findings, 84% of those affected feel that the condition has negatively impacted their professional life.

Migraine is a neurological condition that is much more than just a headache. Along with a throbbing, severe headache, symptoms can include nausea, light sensitivity and dizziness.

Furthermore, 20% of sufferers also experience aura, a condition that precedes the migraine. Symptoms of this can include visual disturbances, loss of speech and partial paralysis.

An attack can last from four to 72 hours.

Migraine is estimated to affect 12-15% of people in Ireland - that is up to a half a million people. It is three times more common in women than men. Yet despite its high prevalence, it remains a misunderstood and under-managed condition.

The survey focused on people who suffer from severe and frequent migraine attacks - at least four per month. It was part of a global patient study carried out in 36 countries, which aimed to establish how severe and frequent attacks affect daily life.

The Irish results are contained in a recently launched report, My Migraine Voice.

According to these results, 84% said that their migraine attacks have negatively impacted their professional life. Some 15% have had to change jobs as a result of the condition, while 12% have lost their job because of it.

While 75% of respondents said their employers were aware of their condition, only around 30% of these said that their employer offered them any support. Meanwhile, 36% said they felt judged by their colleagues for taking days off, while 8% said they were bullied at work because of their condition.

According to Dr Eddie O'Sullivan, a GP and director of the migraine clinic at Cork University Hospital (CUH), the severity of migraine and its wider impact is often misunderstood and frequently dismissed.

"While GPs like myself are most frequently visited, this group saw a neurologist an average of four times a year. Moreover, 31% had to attend Emergency Departments (EDs) while 23% needed to be hospitalised due to a migraine attack.

"With new developments in migraine, I would hope that this will change and migraine can be better managed in the community at primary care level," he commented.

Meanwhile, according to Patrick Little, CEO of the Migraine Association of Ireland (MAI), the findings suggest ‘a worrying inability to support and treat migraine sufferers adequately'.

"This is particularly alarming when one considers that this is a condition that the World Health Organization has recognised as the fourth leading cause of disability in women worldwide," Mr Little said.

The survey also found that 89% of people with frequent and severe migraine attacks spend long periods of time in darkness and isolation - an average of 32 hours per month.

Some 73% of respondents said that each of their attacks lasts more than a day, while 30% said their attacks last up to three days.

Most said that migraine significantly interfered with their daily lives, with 94% cancelling plans in the previous month as a result of attacks.

When it came to the use of healthcare resources, 71% of respondents had visited their GP at least three times in the last six months, while 31% had visited an ED in the last year. Some 23% had been admitted to hospital overnight due to migraine, while almost 70% have had a brain scan.

Not surprisingly, 89% are fearful of their next migraine attack.

The global patient study was undertaken by Novartis in partnership with the European Migraine and Health Alliance in 36 countries. The Irish report, My Migraine Voice, can be viewed here.