Medical experts in the US have expanded their recommendations for who should receive migraine treatment and what preventative drugs they should be prescribed.A panel of experts has systematically analyzed the available evidence and made several key updates to a 2012 joint guideline from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the American Headache Society (AHS).The new recommendations are published in a special article for the journal Headache and are endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians."Migraine is the most common reason for people to see a neurologist, and is encountered even more commonly in primary care settings," explains AHS president, neurologist Matthew Robbins of Weill Cornell Medicine."Newer treatment options have revolutionized the care for millions of people in the US and worldwide."The hope is that these new guidelines make it easier for patients who are experiencing debilitating headaches or migraines to receive effective preventative treatments – even if they don't technically have migraine attacks or a chronic condition.Chronic migraines are headaches that occur more than 15 days a month for more than three months. Not all of these headaches have to be true migraines, but at least 8 must have migraine features, like throbbing on one side of the head, nausea, or sensitivity to light and sound.(Cornell University)Today, however, the new guidelines argue that more patients could benefit from preventative treatment, even if they don't experience that many migraines a month.According to the guidelines, clinicians in the US should now offer preventive treatments to patients with migraine who experience four or more moderate-to-severe headaches or migraine attacks a month, or who otherwise experience substantial migraine-related disability, according to the update.The new clinical recommendations are not legally binding, but AAN president Natalia Rost, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says they are "an important resource for neurologists and other clinicians working to provide the best possible care."The rationale for these changes is based on the fact that many clinical trials for migraine prevention only require four or more migraines a month for participants to be eligible, and the effects are impressive.Studies have also shown that the frequency of episodic headaches per month is a key predictor of whether someone's condition becomes chronic. "Preventative treatments may prevent the transition from episodic to chronic migraine," the guideline authors explain.So, under the new guidelines, people who suffer from migraine attacks or severe headaches should have expanded access to newer treatments, too.