Editorial Policy
How we develop, source, and review content.
Migraine Detective publishes educational content for people whose migraines have not been resolved by standard care. Our editorial standards are designed to make that content trustworthy, well-cited, and explicitly complementary to clinical practice.
Mission
A complementary lens, not an alternative to clinical care.
Migraine is a multi-system condition. A single 15–30 minute clinical visit, even with an excellent neurologist, rarely has time to integrate hormonal, vascular, histaminergic, structural, and metabolic patterns into one coherent picture for an individual patient. The layer model is a structured way to organize those patterns so readers can bring better questions, better data, and a clearer hypothesis to the clinicians treating them.
Every guide on this site is framed as a tool for a clinician-patient conversation — not a substitute for one. Content does not diagnose, prescribe, or recommend specific medications. It explains mechanisms, surfaces patterns, and points to the tests and questions worth bringing to a qualified provider.
Citation Standards
Every substantive claim is sourced from peer-reviewed research.
Each guide on Migraine Detective ends with a "Clinical and review articles" section listing the peer-reviewed papers, review articles, and clinical practice guidelines that informed the content. Mechanistic claims (e.g., "estrogen withdrawal triggers mast-cell degranulation") are tied to specific citations rather than asserted in the abstract.
Where reference ranges or specific test thresholds are quoted, the source lab or guideline is named explicitly (e.g., "Quest reference range 0.006–0.131 mg/24h" rather than "normal range").
We avoid extrapolating beyond what the underlying research supports. When a pattern is clinically observed but not yet validated in the literature, we say so.
Authorship
Named author. Visible review history.
All content on this site is authored by Svetlana, creator of the Migraine Detective Method, a Stanford GSB graduate, and the long-term migraine patient who developed the layer model from her own multi-year investigation. Author identity, credentials, and methodology are detailed in full on the About the Method and Creator page.
Every guide carries a visible "Last updated" date and a "Reviewed by" line linking back to the author's bio. Both dates are also embedded in the page's structured data so search engines and AI crawlers can verify recency and attribution.
Medical Advisors
Actively recruiting clinical partners aligned with the layer model.
We are recruiting medical advisors with deep clinical experience in treatment-resistant migraine — particularly neurologists, integrative-medicine physicians, and women's-health specialists who already think about migraine as a multi-system threshold problem. The intent is a formal review relationship, not a name on a website.
Until those partnerships are formalized, every guide is sourced from peer-reviewed research and clinical review articles. We make this transparent rather than implying clinical oversight that does not yet exist.
Clinicians interested in this kind of partnership can reach the editorial team at hello@migrainedetective.ai.
Review Cadence
Annual review, plus event-driven updates.
Every guide is reviewed at least once per calendar year. We also update content whenever:
- New peer-reviewed research changes a mechanistic claim
- Clinical practice guidelines (American Headache Society, International Headache Society) issue updated recommendations
- A new medication or test changes the practical landscape for readers
- A reader or clinician identifies an inaccuracy that requires correction
Significant updates change the visible "Last updated" date; minor edits (typos, link fixes) do not.
Editorial Independence
No pharmaceutical sponsorship. No medication affiliate commissions.
Migraine Detective does not accept pharmaceutical sponsorship, advertising, or affiliate commissions on prescription medications, supplements, or medical devices. Revenue comes from reader-paid products — the AI Chat subscription, the Forensic Workup Guide, and the Structured Review service — and from the corporate program for self-insured employers.
This independence is intentional. When a guide says a particular CGRP medication has a 50% non-response rate, that figure is not influenced by which manufacturer sponsors the page — because none do.
The Telegram-based Voice Tracker is free and has no commercial relationship with any third party.
Corrections & Feedback
We correct errors quickly and visibly.
If you find a factual error, an out-of-date citation, or content that needs clarification, write to hello@migrainedetective.ai. We aim to acknowledge corrections within 48 hours and publish updates promptly.
Substantive corrections to factual claims are flagged with an updated "Last updated" date and, where relevant, a brief note describing what changed.
Disclaimer. All content on Migraine Detective is educational and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified clinician with questions about a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this site.