Book Review

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Migraine Blues: CD-ROM

CME Program with music videos and lecturesMusic by Fred Sheftell, MDLectures by Roger Cady, MD;Merle Diamond, MD; Curtis Schreiber, MD;Kathleen Farmer, PsyD

Shakespeare told us that music can”soothe thesavage beast . . .”; Dr. Fred Sheftell is here to showthat music can be an important tonic for headachesufferers, as well.

Migraine Blues

is a continuing med-ical education CD-ROM that uses 4 of Dr. Sheftell’soriginal songs to deliver valuable information and in-sight about headaches and their treatment. Usingmusic to enliven the learning process, the programaspires to help patients with headache recognize andsuccessfully manage migraine and cluster headaches.Each of the 4 songs are presented in an entertainingmusic-video format. Users can also view enhancedvideos that provide additional textual material sup-porting the message of each tune.

The “title cut” (as we say in the music business),Migraine Blues, is indeed a blues tune, with lyrics ex-ploring the symptoms and experiences of a mi-graineur. Dr. Sheftell and his band appear in a night-club setting, dressed in blues-approved outfits (thegood doctor himself is decked out in fedora andshades, wielding guitar and harmonica with aplomb).Our protagonist “woke up this morning ‘with an achin’head . . . just couldn’t get out of bed . . . wished I wasdead. . . .” and has been “searchin’ and searchin’ . . .lookin’ for a cure. . . .” The bluesy music and lyrics getat the essence of the migraine experience and its im-pact on the patient’s life. Video images of scenarioscrucial to the lives of migraineurs are interspersedthroughout the song to underscore the message.

In “What’s Wrong with Me,” Dr. Sheftell uses arock and roll beat to express the frenetic, pacingmovement that often accompanies the intensely pain-ful episodes of cluster headache. A “big strong man,weak in the knees” is depicted in song and video im-ages dealing with the incredible pain and frequentmisdiagnosis of this terrifying form of headache. Onceagain, the musical delivery and visual images of Shef-tell and his fellow musicians help the factual informa-tion go down easy.

“Triptan du Jour” takes a somewhat light-heartedlook at the continuing development of the triptansand their benefit to patients with headache. Dr. Shef-tell does some good-natured name-dropping of someof the professionals associated with the developmentof this class of drugs. This time, the musicians splitvideo time with animated graphics, including aslightly wacky look at the places on the body wherethe triptans can be administered.

“Life Is for Living” uses a sunny Caribbean tuneto look at nonpharmocological approaches to head-ache management, and the importance of patientparticipation in the process of managing symptoms.Patients are depicted enjoying exercise, healthy diet,meditation, and other positive activities for takingcontrol of their lives, while Dr. Sheftell and his band-mates intermittently pop up (literally!) in front ofocean waves and palm trees. The theme is “I canmanage this.”

Indeed, life IS for living, and with

MigraineBlues

, Dr. Fred Sheftell provides a nice musical toolto help patients with headache lose the blues and geton with the living.

Mark SelbyMoraine Music Group

2803 Bransford AvenueNashville, TN 37204