ABOUT TIME: We are finally beginning to understand migraines and how to treat them.

Despite migraine being among the most common neurological conditions, affecting around a billion people worldwide, we know incredibly little about what causes them, how to avoid them and how best to treat them.

That is partly because migraines are so complex. They impact people differently, can be unpredictable and affect many more women than men. Migraine research has been dismissed, derided and underfunded. But a handful of dedicated scientists have spent decades trying to make progress. For the first time, they have uncovered a mechanism behind migraines in the brain, and with this knowledge have developed treatments not only to relieve them when they strike, but possibly to stop them occurring. Finally, migraine science is having its moment.

For those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with migraines, they can seem far-fetched. Someone can be fine one minute, then suddenly unable to speak or see.

I got migraines two or three times a week from the ages of around 10 to about 40. CoQ10 seemed to help.