It seems that many people resort to Twitter and Google when they are dealing with a headache. And their searches and tweets are helping researchers learn more about how and when migraine and headache impact their lives. This study, which was conducted between January 2007 and July 2012 was led by Dr. Clas Linnman, an instructor at Harvard Medical School. In reviewing the tweets, researchers documented the writers frustrations, medications and triggers – personal details that tweets can provide. The Google searches provided more straightforward information including the detail that Tuesday was the most Googled searched work day of the week, and Friday was the least.
The hope is that this wealth of individualized information can help researchers better understand how migraine affects people. “An in-depth analysis of time series of Tweets by individual migraineurs may provide information on triggers such as sleep deprivation, stress and foods,” says Dr. Linnman…..Harvard Health Publications 12/17/12