Researchers are working out new methodologies to deal with headaches
a simple 15-minute screening test for people suffering from headache has been devised by scientists at the Cincinnati Headache Institute, Ohio University, usa. The procedure would help doctors know the exact location of pain, the severity of pain and whether other factors such as stress, are contributing to it. This would also enable physicians to find out whether patients would respond to the treatment or not (Headache , Vol 37, No 5).
Doctors always suspected a link between hormones and headaches, especially the sex hormones in women. A study undertaken by Donald Penzien and his group at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, Jackson, Mississippi, usa , suggests that women who have gynaecological problems such as irregular menstrual cycles, or who have hysterectomy, are twice as likely to have severe headaches as normal women. However, it is still not clear that despite of advances in our understanding of female hormones and their effects on blood vessels and smooth muscles, why only some women get headaches due to hormone surges.
Medication is another area that needs to be strengthened even while it is of limited use in a majority of cases. Drugs are especially important for some categories such as migraine and cluster headaches.
It is known that a brain chemical called serotonin plays an important role in triggering migraine headaches. Serotonin sometimes floods the blood vessels of the brain, causing them to constrict.
The body then overreacts by sending serotonin levels plummeting and forcing the blood vessels to expand to several times the normal size. This cycle of contraction and expansion results in the throbbing pain.
Encouraging results have been reported with a second generation migraine-beater called Amerge. This drug is supposed to last longer than the presently available drugs. In addition, it has a less chance of triggering side effects.
Some common headaches include tension headache, migraine and cluster headache. The most common form of headache -- the tension headache -- is caused by clenched muscles in the head and neck. Throbbing pain in the head can also be caused by hunger, consumption of alcohol, drugs taken for other ailments such as heart disease or gastric ulcer. The researchers have a long way to go before effective headache management is conceived, especially for some kinds of headaches such as the cluster headaches.
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