The first descriptions of migraine can be traced back nearly 4,000 years from the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia (Sumeria and Babylonia) through Egyptian, Greek and Roman epochs. Through Byzantine, Arabic and Medieval times there are only patchy references until the 17th century, when European physicians first gave full case reports.
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DidsburyG.Considerations sur la migraine d'apres Arétée de Cappodoce. Bull Soc Franc d'Hist Med1936: 260–7
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Galen. Decompositione Medicamentorum Secrendum Locos. In: KuhnE, editor. Opera Omnia Lipsiae, C. Cnoblochia Tomus XII, Liber II Cap III (De hemicrania). Cited in Balyeat RM, editor. Migraine diagnosis and treatment. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1933
