First foray into research no pain for Adele

A Dundee undergraduate student’s research career has got off to a flying start with the publication of a book she co-authored.

Adele Valentova’s mother, Dr Jitka Vanderpol, is a consultant neurologist and the author of ‘Helping You Successfully Manage Your Headache and Migraine – A Patient’s Guide’. Adele was keen to offer her assistance in order to build experience of the research and writing process and went on to play an important role in the book’s production.

Adele (19) is a first-year Biomedical Sciences student. She was charged with close reading her mother’s work and compiling the book’s glossary as well as designing its cover and the images contained within. Adele says this was an invaluable experience that has only strengthened her ambitions of moving into research after university.

“We designed this book to help chronic headache and migraine sufferers understand what type of headache they suffer from and what they can do to alleviate the symptoms or even prevent them,” she explained.

“The book is very much aimed at patients who are not experts in headaches and migraines. Reading through the book I was able to identify the information and terms that a lay person would be unfamiliar with before producing easily understandable explanations for the glossary.

“We are living in unprecedented times during the Covid-19 pandemic, with access to healthcare restricted. This is my mother's way of reaching out to patients and to all lonely headache sufferers. Hopefully they feel there is someone helping and supporting them and accompanying them on their journey.

“So many people search the internet to try and work out what is wrong with them and what they can do about it. That is understandable, but it makes them susceptible to misinformation or interpreting what they read incorrectly and misdiagnosing themselves. This book provides a reliable resource for people looking to educate themselves about their condition.”

There are over 150 types of headache, and the book advises on what can be done to alleviate and even prevent symptoms, while providing the reader with a better understanding of headaches and a guide to their self-management.

Adele was born in the Czech Republic and grew up in Cumbria, where her mother works at Penrith Hospital. Dr Vanderpol has more than two decade’s worth of experience in neurology and sees around 1000 headache sufferers each year.

‘Helping You Successfully Manage Your Headache and Migraine. A Patient’s Guide’ is published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. More information is available at https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-6461-9.