Discover The Mystery Behind Headaches

There cannot be many of us who have not experienced a headache and yet, despite the fact that they are so common, their cause is a mystery. In addition, though we generally talk about a headache there are in fact several different types of headache.

Migraines for instance affect about ten percent of the population of the United States (in the region of 28 million people) and afflict three times more women than men. Yet, despite the fact that such a large section of the population suffers regularly from migraine headaches, we still have little idea about just what causes them. There are of course various theories, the latest of which is that they result from the interaction of brain chemicals like serotonin and the nerve cells of the brain, however we really do not know for for sure whether this is the cause.

Cluster headaches, which are much rarer but also much more intense than migraine headaches, affect only about one person in three hundred and tend to afflict men far more than women. Again however we have only a provisional idea about just what leads to the stabbing pain that is often felt behind one eye in these especially painful headaches. Some people suspect that the cause could be a problem with the hypothalamus but, at the moment, there is no good evidence to support this theory.

The the most commonly seen type of headache is what we generally refer to as ordinary or tension-type headaches and again these are far from well understood. In this case the list of possible causes is extremely long and includes everything from what we eat to how stressed we are. Attempting to isolate a precise cause has however as yet proved too difficult and exactly what leads to the common everyday headache is still something of a mystery.

Perhaps the only saving grace is that we do have a large number of medications available to deal with the various forms of headache and most of these are both effective and safe for the majority of sufferers.

Migraine headaches have proved difficult to treat for a long time and the ergot drugs previously used to treat them had varying degrees of success. These were then largely replaced by triptan drugs which were more effective but which sadly carried some disadvantages. Nowadays however a new generation of triptans are proving safe, have fewer shortcomings and work well for the majority of sufferers.

There has also been an increase in the use of preventive medications for migraines like calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, anti-seizure medications, anti-depressants and several other drugs which are commonly used to treat other well known conditions. For some individuals these drugs will stop headaches from occurring at all, while for other people they can lower the frequency of headaches.

For common headaches over-the-counter medicines like paracetamol and aspirin (which have been with us for over one hundred years) and newer drugs like ibuprofen offer effective and safe relief in most cases. For people who suffer from regular headaches though care needs to be taken as even the lowly aspirin can produce side effects if taken too frequently.

Despite the fact that there is still so much that we do not know about what causes really bad headaches the simple fact that we are able to treat them effectively is comforting to the many sufferers and especially to the large number of individuals who are afflicted by often very debilitating migraines. Surprisingly enough though only about half of all those who suffer from migraines ever seek treatment and so there are millions of people today needlessly suffering in silence.

If you are bothered by headaches and find that over-the-counter medicines like paracetamol or aspirin do not work then, instead of suffering in silence, drop in and see your physician who will almost certainly be able to help.