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Facts About Headaches
By peace | July 6, 2006
Headaches are not created equal. The severity, symptoms and causes vary. The different types include tension, migraine, cluster, organic, rebound and chronic daily headaches, as well as many others. Headaches can plague anyone and can stop the strongest and bravest in their tracks. Despite the toll headaches still take on millions of people, enormous progress has been made in treating them. New medications, combined with non-drug therapies, are preventing, stopping or managing some of the toughest headaches around.
Headaches are not created equal. The severity, symptoms and causes vary. The different types include tension, migraine, cluster, organic, rebound and chronic daily headaches, as well as many others. Headaches can plague anyone and can stop the strongest and bravest in their tracks. Despite the toll headaches still take on millions of people, enormous progress has been made in treating them. New medications, combined with non-drug therapies, are preventing, stopping or managing some of the toughest headaches around.
Tension-Type
Approximately 90 percent of all headaches are classified as tension-type headache. The pain is typically generalized all over the head. There appears to be a slightly higher incidence of this type of headache among women, because more females than males seek treatment.
Cluster
There are an estimated one million cluster headache sufferers in the United States, of whom 10 percent are afflicted with chronic cluster. Although cluster headaches produce some of the most severe pain that a health care provider will see, they can go long periods in remission.
Hormone Headache (Menstrual Migraine)
Women suffer migraines three times more frequently than do men, and, menstrual migraines affect 70 percent of these women. They occur before, during or immediately after the period, or during ovulation. Menstrual migraines are primarily caused by estrogen, the female sex hormone that specifically regulates the menstrual cycle fluctuations throughout the cycle. When the levels of estrogen and progesterone change, women will be more vulnerable to headaches. Because oral contraceptives influence estrogen levels, women on birth control pills may experience more menstrual migraines.
Migraine
More than just a “bad headache,” a migraine is a legitimate biological disease affecting 28 million Americans, equivalent to 13 percent of the population, and one in every four United States households has a migraine sufferer. Migraine is more common than asthma, diabetes and coronary heart disease combined.
Diagnosis
A physician’s detailed question-and-answer session with a patient can often produce enough information for a diagnosis. Many types of headaches have clear-cut symptoms which fall into an easily recognizable pattern. Most physicians will also obtain a full medical history from the patient, inquiring about past head trauma or surgery, eye strain, sinus problems, dental problems, difficulties with opening and closing of the jaw, and the use of medications.
A complete and careful physical and neurological examination will exclude many possibilities and the suspicion of aneurysm, meningitis, or certain brain tumors. A blood test may be ordered to screen for thyroid disease, anemia, or infections which might cause a headache. In more complex cases, a physician might also order an electroencephalogram (EEG), a computed tomographic (CT) scan and/or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
The physician analyzes the results of all these diagnostic tests along with a patient’s medical history and examination in order to arrive at a diagnosis. Headaches are diagnosed as:
- Muscle contraction (tension)
- Vascular
- Traction
- Inflammatory
Muscle contraction headaches appear to involve the tightening or tensing of facial and neck muscles.
The most common type of vascular headache is migraine. After migraine, the most common type of vascular headache is the toxic headache produced by fever. Other kinds of vascular headaches include “cluster” headaches, which cause repeated episodes of intense pain, and headaches resulting from high blood pressure.
Traction and inflammatory headaches are symptoms of other disorders, ranging from stroke to sinus infection. Like other types of pain, headaches can serve as warning signals of more serious disorders. This is particularly true for headaches caused by inflammation, including those related to meningitis as well as those resulting from diseases of the sinuses, spine, neck, ears, and teeth.
When You Should See a Physician
Not all headaches require medical attention. Some result from missed meals or occasional muscle tension and are easily remedied. But some types of headache are signals of more serious disorders, and call for prompt medical care. These include:
- Sudden, severe headache
- Sudden, severe headache associated with a stiff neck
- Headache associated with fever
- Headache associated with convulsions
- Headache accompanied by confusion or loss of consciousness
- Headache following a blow on the head
- Headache associated with pain in the eye or ear
- Persistent headache in a person who was previously headache free
- Recurring headache in children
- Headache that interfere with normal life
Topics: All Posts, Diseases, Man's health, Woman's Health |
