Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have some degree of speaking ability, but choose not to speak because of the negative or unwanted attention atypical voices sometimes attract. Such people communicate using sign language. Some consider it to be a derogatory term if used outside its historical context; the preferred term today is simply "deaf". Historical usage of "deaf-mute" and other terms
United Kingdom
In 19th century British English "mute" and "dumb" meant "non-speaking", and were not pejorative terms. For example, in 1889 Queen Victoria instigated the Royal Commission on The Blind, the Deaf and Dumb etc.in the United Kingdom. The intention was to examine contemporary education and employment of blind or deaf people, with a view to improving conditions for them. The Oxford English Dictionary states that the North American pejorative usage of the word to imply stupidity was first noted in the UK in 1928. According to the OED, "deaf-mute" was coined in the early 19th century as a medical term for an inability to speak as a consequence of deafness. There is no mention of offensiveness of this term in the UK. North America
The primary definition of "dumb" in Websters Dictionary is "lacking intelligence" or "stupid". Its second definition of the word is "lacking the ability to speak ... now often offensive".
Almotriptan  (trade name Axert and others) is a triptan medication discovered and developed by Almirall for the treatment of heavy migraine headache. It was patented in 1992 and approved for medical use in 2000. Medical uses
Almotriptan is prescribed to treat the acute headache phase of migraine attacks with or without aura. Almotriptan is the only oral triptan approved in the US for the treatment of migraine in adolescent from 12 to 17 years of age. Efficacy
The efficacy and tolerability of almotriptan has been studied in numerous randomised, controlled trials totaling more than 4800 adults with either moderate or severe attacks of migraine. Its efficacy is significantly more effective than placebo and alleviates nausea, photophobia and phonophobia linked to migraine attacks. Almotriptan has similar efficacy as a standard dose of sumatriptan, another triptan drug, and fewer adverse effects. Contraindications
As with other triptans, almotriptan should not be used in patients with a history, symptoms or signs of ischaemic heart disease (myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, documented silent ischaemia, Prinzmetals angina) or severe hypertension and uncontrolled mild or moderate hypertension. Other contraindications are previous cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or transient ischaemic attack (TIA), peripheral vascular disease, severe hepatic impairment, concomitant administration of ergotamine, ergotamine derivatives (including methysergide) and other 5-HT1B/D agonists. Side effects
Almotriptan has proved to have an adverse effects profile similar to placebo when used following the Summary of Product Characteristics instructions (see references). Pharmacology
Mechanism of action
Like all triptans, almotriptan has a high and specific affinity for serotonin 5-HT1B/1D receptors.