Headache In medicine, a headache or cephalalgia is a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and sometimes neck.
- Headache Some of the causes are benign while others are medical emergencies. It ranks among the most common pain complaints. There are a number of different classification systems. The most well recognized is that of the International Headache Society. Treatment of a headache depends on the underlying etiology or cause, but commonly involves analgesics.
Migraines
- Physiologically, the migraine headache is a neurological condition more common to women than to men. Etymologically, the French word migraine derives from the Greek hemicrania (half skull) and the Old English megrim (severe headache).
- The typical migraine headache is unilateral and pulsating, lasting from 4 to 72 hours; symptoms include nausea, vomiting, photophobia (increased sensitivity to bright light), and hyperacusis (increased sensitivity to noise); approximately one third of people who suffer migraine headache perceive an aura – visual, olfactory – announcing the headache.
- Initial treatment is with analgesics for the head-ache, an anti-emetic for the nausea, and the avoidance of triggering conditions. The cause of migraine headache is unknown; the accepted theory is a disorder of the serotonergic control system, as PET scan has demonstrated the aura coincides with diffusion of cortical depression consequent to increased blood flow (up to 300% greater than baseline).
- Studies of twins indicate a 60 to 65 per cent genetic influence upon their developing propensity to migraine headache. Moreover, fluctuating hormone levels indicate a migraine relation: 75 percent of adult patients are women, although migraine affects approximately equal numbers of prepubescent boys and girls;
Tension headache
- The pain can radiate from the neck, back, eyes, or other muscle groups in the body. Tension-type account for nearly 90% of all . Approximately 3% of the population suffers from chronic-tension type headache.
Cluster headache
- The cause of the disease is currently unknown. It affects approximately 0.1% of the population, and men are more commonly affected than women.
