In the most malignant form of plasma cell dyscrasias, primary plasma cell leukemia, the plasma cell population contains >1900 distinct DNA alterations in >600 genes.In general, the plasma cell dyscrasias are defined by 1) the presence of these genetically unstable clonal plasma cells, lymphoplasmacytoid cells, or B cells infiltrating the bone marrow or forming distinct masses in bone, and/or other tissues as defined by biopsy of involved tissues and 2) the presence of these cells myeloma proteins (i.e. intact monoclonal antibody, free light chain, free heavy chain, shortened version of these proteins, or any combination of these proteins) in blood and/or urine as defined by various types of gel electrophoresis. Obviously, the latter criterion does not apply to the rare cases of true non-secretory myeloma. Myeloma protein toxicity
Myeloma proteins form as a result of gene mutations rather than physiological gene remodeling responses to an instigating foreign antigen: typically these proteins are non-functional. However, they  sometimes cause serious tissue damage with the kidney being a particularly vulnerable target. The toxic effects of monoclonal proteins may occur at early stages in the plasma cell dyscrasia spectrum and require treatment independently of the mass or tissue-destructive effects of the myeloma protein-producing cells.
But fewer than half of people with migraine seek medical care and more than half go undiagnosed and undertreated. "Responsive prevention and treatment of migraine is incredibly important" because evidence shows "an increased sensitivity after each successive attack, eventually leading to chronic daily migraine in some individuals." Repeated migraine results in "reorganization of brain circuitry," causing "profound functional as well as structural changes in the brain." "One of the most important problems in clinical migraine is the progression from an intermittent, self-limited inconvenience to a life-changing disorder of chronic pain, sensory amplification, and autonomic and affective disruption. This progression, sometimes termed chronification in the migraine literature, is common, affecting 3% of migraineurs in a given year, such that 8% of migraineurs have chronic migraine in any given year." Brain imagery reveals that the electrophysiological changes seen during an attack become permanent in people with chronic migraine; "thus, from an electrophysiological point of view, chronic migraine indeed resembles a never-ending migraine attack." Severe migraine ranks in the highest category of disability, according to the World Health Organization, which uses objective metrics to determine disability burden for the authoritative annual Global Burden of Disease report. The report classifies severe migraine alongside severe depression, active psychosis, quadriplegia, and terminal-stage cancer.Migraine with aura appears to be a risk factor for ischemic stroke doubling the risk. Being a young adult, being female, using hormonal birth control, and smoking further increases this risk. There also appears to be an association with cervical artery dissection.