Painkillers Can Cause Headaches Warns UK Watchdog

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Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice;  Headache / Migraine;  Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals
Article Date: 19 Sep 2012 - 3:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Painkillers Can Cause Headaches Warns UK Watchdog

Overuse of common painkillers could be the reason nearly a million people in the UK have headaches, according to the health watchdog.

The warning comes from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), an "arms length" body funded by the government, as it releases its first guideline for doctors in England and Wales on diagnosing and managing headaches in young people and adults.

The watchdog was given the task in 2009, since when it has been conducting a review and consultation.

The NICE panel that carried out the review says "medication overuse headaches" can come from taking aspirin, paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen) on more than 15 days a month, or opioids, ergots, triptans (a group of specific anti-migraine medicines), or combination analgesic medications on at least 10 days per month.

Professor Martin Underwood, of Warwick Medical School, led the panel. He says people can end up in a "vicious cycle" where their headaches get worse, so they take more painkillers, which make the headaches even worse, and so it continues.

NICE estimates that one in 50 people who suffer from headaches could be doing so because of painkiller overuse.

Manjit Matharu, a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, told BBC News, medication overuse was a "huge problem" in the population.

He said estimates suggest as many as 1 in 50 people are affected, which is about one million people in the UK having headaches nearly every day because of painkillers.

It is thought that most people trapped in this vicious cycle started out using painkillers to relieve an everyday, tension-type headache or migraine.

Matharu said there was a "tipping point" at 10 to 15 days of using pain relief each month, when normal use turns into overuse.

The new NICE guidelines advise doctors to tell patients who are over-using painkillers to stop taking all painkillers immediately. This will most likely cause a month of suffering headaches with no pain relief, but after that the symptoms should improve.

The watchdog recommends other options for treating headaches, including acupuncture for patients susceptible to migraine and tension headaches.

Underwood says there is good evidence that acupuncture is effective for the prevention of both these types of headache.

Fayyaz Ahmed, a consultant neurologist at Hull Royal Infirmary, and chair of British Association for the Study of Headache, says in a BBC News report on the new NICE guidelines:

"Headache is the most prevalent condition and one in seven of the UK population has migraine. The condition puts an enormous burden on the healthcare resources and the economy in general."

On an NHS Choices website about "painkiller headaches" Ahmed says about 5% of the patients that come to his headache clinic have medication overuse headaches from taking painkillers regularly over a long period.

"Strangely, painkiller headaches only become a problem in people who take painkillers to treat headaches. They don't occur in people who take painkillers for long periods for other painful conditions such as arthritis and back pain," he explains.

Ahmed says most people with medication overuse headaches aren't taking more than the dose recommended on the packet, the problem arises when they take them for long periods, often months on end.

He says some people even take painkillers every day to prevent headaches, which just makes matters worse.

His advice for stopping medication overuse headaches is the same as NICE's: stop taking painkillers.

"Your headaches will probably get worse immediately after stopping, and you may feel sick or sleep badly, but after seven to 10 days when the painkillers are out of your system you'll feel better," he says.

However, if the painkiller headaches are the result of taking drugs containing codeine, then you should see a doctor about how to stop, because stopping abruptly in these cases could be dangerous, according to NHS Choices.

In Ahmed's experience, around three quarters of people with medication overuse headaches manage to stop taking painkillers in one go and feel better as a result.

The other quarter or so experience relapses, and may have to go through several withdrawal periods, he says.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
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posted by Mike on 19 Sep 2012 at 4:56 am

The article text clearly says that the NICE estimate of people who could be experiencing headaches due to painkiller overuse is only 1 in 50. Therefore this doesn't apply to the other 49 people out of the 50.

Yes I agree that cutting down on painkiller use is probably a good thing, but there's a more than good chance that this isn't the cause of your headaches.

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Migraine Increases Risk Of Depression In Women

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Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Depression
Article Date: 23 Feb 2012 - 12:00 PST Current ratings for:
Migraine Increases Risk Of Depression In Women

Research released today and scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, shows that women who have a tendency for migraines or have had them in the past, have a greater risk for developing depression.

The study gathered data on more than 36,000 women, who were all classified as not having depression. They were enrolled in the Women's Health Study and gave information about their history of migraines.

The women were categorized as either having :
Active migraine with auraActive migraine without auraPast history of migraine (but not within the last year)No history of migraine. The women also gave information about diagnoses of depression.

From 36,154, a total of 6,456 had current or past problems with migraines, and during the following 14 years of the study, more than half of them developed depression.

Those that had a history of migraines were nearly twice as likely to develop depression as those that had no history of the affliction. The results did not vary substantially, regardless of the type of migraine. Those with aura, which is described as visual disturbances that appear as flashing lights, zigzag lines or a temporary loss of vision, had the same risks as other types of migraine.

Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Inserm in France and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology said :

"This is one of the first large studies to examine the association between migraine and the development of depression over time ... We hope our findings will encourage doctors to speak to their migraine patients about the risk of depression and potential ways to prevent depression."

It's useful information that patients and doctors alike should be aware of when treating depression.

Written by Rupert Shepherd.
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posted by Veronika on 15 Mar 2012 at 12:50 pm

Wow! I didn't know the fact that migraine increases risk of depression in women. I definitely have a headache once a week but I don't know is it migraine or not! Usually I don't care about it... I have to think and visit a doctor. I don't want to have a depression.
Some days ago I found a blog of one poor thing who is in depression... Not good!

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posted by momo on 23 Feb 2012 at 1:51 pm

Really?
So, feeling like you've been hit on the head with a baseball bat (with no hope of a cure) increases your chances of feeling hopeless and sad?
Yes, oddly enough people with chronic and frequent pain are more likely to not "look on the bright side of life".
.
Seems a no brainer to me. But of course prior to triptains I used to get migraines every other day.
How much money was spent on this research?

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Migraine sufferers are more prone to hangovers

While a headache after a night of drinking for the general public can be quite general, new studies show that hangovers may be more frequently in migraine sufferers. Researchers at the Jefferson headache Center developed a model to study the effects of alcohol on rats who suffer recurrent migraines, compared to rats that do not get headaches. The results, which were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, in Chicago, are quite fascinating.

Migraine headaches are associated with hypersensitivity to light, sound and light touch on the head and face. The researchers measured rats sensitivity to touch around the eye in four different test groups: two groups received repeated dural simulation to cause headache, followed by an oral ingestion of saline or alcohol (the equivalent of one to two shots of liquor). Two control groups received no inflammatory stimulation, but the same each received oral intake of salt or alcohol.

The rats that received the stimulation followed with alcohol increased pain sensitivity after 4-6 hours, while the control groups had no change in pain sensitivity. The researchers made sure that dehydration and alcohol impurities were excluded as causes of increased sensitivity by hydrating the rats and ensuring the alcohol was free of contaminants.

According to the study leader Dr. Michael Oshinsky, Ph.d., Assistant professor of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, "the alcohol itself or a metabolite must be causing the hangover-like headache." Dr. Oshinsky ultimately concluded that "these data confirm the clinical observation that people with migraine are more sensitive to alcohol-induced headaches."

For more information about the causes and treatments for Hangover headache symptoms, visit www.headaches.org.

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Headache linked to pollution?

Persons suffering from headache might have a reason to go green living. A recent study from Chile shows that elevated levels of pollution in the air can contribute to headache.

Researchers in Santiago province, Chile studied the effects of various pollution factors including ozone, carbon monoxide, air pollutants and particulate matter associated with gasoline and other fossil fuels, burning on all types of headache. This province in Chile is one of the best places to research this one because of the high population density and its location in a Valley surrounded by mountains, which makes it extremely sensitive to pollution.

Although the authors of the study recommended further studies be performed in different geographic regions to test for consistency in Chile she found that on days of high risk of pollution, headaches severe enough to require hospitalization rose substantially. More specifically, migraine headache most consistently was the kind connected with individual air pollutants, while ozone the most consistently associated with headache in single-pollutant models pollutant was.

"If this Association proves to be causal, the morbidity of headache should be taken during the treasures of the disease burden and the economic costs of air pollution," wrote the authors of the study in September 2009 issue of the American Journal of epidemiology. Based on their findings, they suggest that headache patients stay indoors on days of high pollution.

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4 Gene Loci Discovered That Predispose People To The Most Common Subtype Of Migraine

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Genetics
Article Date: 12 Jun 2012 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
4 Gene Loci Discovered That Predispose People To The Most Common Subtype Of Migraine

Researchers studied genetic data of more than 11 000 people and found altogether six genes that predispose to migraine without aura. Four of these genes are new and two of them confirm previous findings.

The new genes identified in this study provide further evidence for the hypothesis that dysregulation of molecules important in transmitting signals between brain neurons contribute to migraine. Two of the genes support the hypothesis of a possible role of blood vessels and thus disturbances in blood flow.

The researchers carried out what is known as a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to zoom in on genome variants that could increase susceptibility to migraine; they compared genomes of 4800 migraine patients with more than 7000 non-migraine individuals. The project was performed by the International Headache Genetics Consortium consisting of leading migraine researches from Europe and Australia.

This was the third report on genes predisposing people to common forms of migraine, but the first one on the most common migraine subtype. "The study establishes for the first time a specific gene that contributes to this common disease" said Professor Aarno Palotie at FIMM and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the chair of the International Headache Genetics Consortium.

The carefully studied migraine patients collected from specialized headache clinics were provided a strong basis for the success of this study.

Migraine affects approximately one in six women and one in eight men, making it a leading cause of work absence and short-term incapacity: 25 million school or work days are lost for migraine each year. A US report measures its economic costs as similar to those of diabetes and WHO lists it as one of the top twenty diseases with the causes of years lived with disability (YLDs). In up to one third of migraine patients, the headache phase may be preceded or accompanied by transient neurological disturbances, the so-called aura (i.e. migraine with aura), while the majority of patients suffer from migraine without aura.

"Studies of this kind are possible only through large-scale international collaboration - bringing together the wealth of data with the right expertise and resources. The identified genes open new doors to investigate how this type of migraine comes about," said Dr. Arn van den Maagdenberg, one of the senior authors on the paper.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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'4 Gene Loci Discovered That Predispose People To The Most Common Subtype Of Migraine'

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The NHS calls on you, our country war veterans, Servicemembers, a free one year membership

To honor America's service men and women, the National Headache Foundation will offer a free one year membership to NHS. Learn more here ... For more information about War Veterans Health Resource initiative, visit our war veterans Education Module To Honor America's service men and women., the National Headache Foundation will give NHS a free one year membership. Learn more here ... For more information about War Veterans Health Resource initiative, visit our war veterans Education Module.

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Driving with migraines

Laws against driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol are understandable. But what about driving under the influence of a migraine?

Megan Oltman, author of free my brain from Migraine pain, presents a unique story of a woman in the u.s. who almost her license suspended because of her migraines. According to Oltman, the story goes as follows: "her son, who lived at home, had his driving privileges suspended and apply for a limited license was so that he could drive himself to work. Since the mother was home, said the MVC [motor vehicle Commission] initially that the mother could drive him to work. The mother let them know that they could not always drive him because if she had a migraine, she could not drive. The MVC used this as a reason to review her driving privileges, with a suggestion that they can suspend its license. "

As evidenced by this story, is the way that the law usually deals with the question of driving with any medical condition, migraine included, monitor, restrict and sometimes suspend licences. This brings both moral and legal issues relating to the idea of fairness in relation to responsibility for migraine sufferers.

On the one hand, migraine may itself decide when they can or cannot drive. They know better than anyone the pain and discomfort, and how debilitating migraines can be linked. Most don't want to drive in such a State anyway. Moreover, it seems as if the woman in the story is punished for her own migraine avoid driving during a self-reporting.

On the other hand, it is the responsibility of MVCs to protect all drivers of potential damage on the road, and this means keeping people who might be potential risks of the road. It is the reason for road tests and tests that vision, and why sometimes people with diseases such as epilepsy are banned from driving. Migraines can be crippling and often have very quick, unexpected beginning. Revision of the licenses of migraine might be the MVCs way of risk reduction.

Anyway, drivers suffering from migraines should always have a backup plan for getting around during an unexpected migraine. Oltman suggests a phone list of friends and family who you where you can go if needed, as well as the number of a cab company.

Visit www.MyMigraineConnection.com for more information and analyses relating to the subject matter of driving with migraines, and for more information about migraines and their symptoms, check out the NHS website at www.headaches.org.

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Link Between Infants' Colic And Mothers' Migraines

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Article Date: 21 Feb 2012 - 0:00 PST Current ratings for:
Link Between Infants' Colic And Mothers' Migraines

A study of mothers and their young babies by neurologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that mothers who suffer migraine headaches are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic than mothers without a history of migraines.

The work raises the question of whether colic may be an early symptom of migraine and therefore whether reducing stimulation may help just as reducing light and noise can alleviate migraine pain. That is significant because excessive crying is one of the most common triggers for shaken baby syndrome, which can cause death, brain damage and severe disability.

"If we can understand what is making the babies cry, we may be able to protect them from this very dangerous outcome," said Amy Gelfand, MD, a child neurologist with the Headache Center at UCSF who will present the findings at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting, which takes place in New Orleans in April.

Colic, or excessive crying in an otherwise healthy infant, has long been associated with gastrointestinal problems - presumably caused by something the baby ate. However, despite more than 50 years of research, no definitive link has been proven between infant colic and gastrointestinal problems. Babies who are fed solely breast milk are as likely to have colic as those fed formula, and giving colicky babies medication for gas does not help.

"We've known about colic for a really long time," Gelfand said, "but despite this fact, no one really knows why these babies are crying."

How the Study was Conducted

In the UCSF study, Gelfand and her colleagues surveyed 154 new mothers bringing their infants to the pediatrician for routine check ups at two months, the age when colicky crying typically peaks. The mothers were surveyed about their babies' crying patterns and their own history of migraine, and those responses were analyzed to make sure the reported crying did indeed fit the clinical definition of colic.

Mothers who suffered migraines were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have colicky babies. Overall, 29 percent of infants whose mothers had migraines had colic compared to 11 percent of babies whose mothers did not have migraines.

Gelfand and her colleagues believe colic may be an early manifestation of a set of conditions known as childhood periodic syndromes, believed to be precursors to migraine headaches later in life.

Babies with colic may be more sensitive to stimuli in their environment just as are migraine sufferers. They may have more difficulty coping with the onslaught of new stimuli after birth as they are thrust from the dark, warm, muffled life inside the womb into a world that is bright, cold, noisy and filled with touchy hands and bouncy knees.

The UCSF team next plans to study a group of colicky babies over the course of their childhood to see if they develop other childhood periodic syndromes, such as abdominal migraine.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our headache / migraine section for the latest news on this subject. The presentation "Infant Colic is Associated with Maternal Migraine" by Amy Gelfand, Katherine Thomas, and Peter Goadsby will be at 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 25 in New Orleans.
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Migraine Sufferers Find Relief From Handheld Magnetic Device

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Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Pain / Anesthetics;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 24 Sep 2012 - 5:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Migraine Sufferers Find Relief From Handheld Magnetic Device

A handheld magnetic device may be a way for migraine sufferers to take treatment into their own hands. At a congress last week, researchers revealed how three months of treatment with the device relieved or reduced headache pain in 73% of patients treated.

Headache specialists at several clinics around the UK, including in Aberdeen, Bath, Exeter, Hull, Liverpool and London, are prescribing the non-invasive single pulse Spring Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) device, made by eNeura Technology in California.

The new data, from a trial involving 60 migraine sufferers treated with TMS at UK clinics, was presented at the 3rd European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress in London on Friday.

The news comes in the wake of a warning by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England and Wales, that painkiller overuse can cause headaches.

The TMS device costs about £500 and is about the size and weight of a portable radio. As soon as he or she senses a migraine coming on, the user holds it to the back of the head and pushes a button. This sends a brief magnetic pulse into the brain.

Scientists suggest that magnetic pulses could halt migraines before they get the chance to build. Scientists believe the magnetic pulse somehow short-circuits the electrical storm that builds up at the start of migraine headaches.

The congress also heard how the TMS improved other symptoms of migraine in 63% of the trial participants: symptoms such as vertigo, nausea, memory problems, and hyper-sensitivity to light and noise.

And over half (53%) reported a reduction in the number of headache days.

Andy Bloor took part in the UK trials. He suffers from chronic migraines and says the TMS device worked for him:

"The key for me was using the device quickly - as soon as the migraine started."

He says when he did that, the migraine stopped.

"The plus of the device is it reduces my reliance on strong drugs like cocodamol," he adds, in a report on the congress by the UK Press Association.

Findings from a trial of the efficacy of the TMS device were published in The Lancet Neurology in 2010. They say the device offers efficient pain relief for up to 48 hours after treatment in some patients with migraine with aura, and does not cause any serious side-effects.

Professor and neurologist Peter Goadsby, one of the world's leading headache experts and researchers, was joint chair of the London congress. He told the press:

"For the many migraine sufferers whose medicines just do not do the job, it is exciting to see such an innovative, novel approach to treatment that provides new optimism."

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
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posted by Steve H on 24 Sep 2012 at 10:06 am

Magnetic fields applied to water will cause the positive and negative ions to line up making the water more conductive. I assume as the human body is made up of a large proportion of water the same principle applies which will cause the electrical eddy currents causing the migraine to quickly dissipate through the increased conductivity of body fluids

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Study Finds Medicare And Medicaid CT Scan Measure Unreliable

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Public Health;  Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 27 Feb 2012 - 0:00 PST Current ratings for:
Study Finds Medicare And Medicaid CT Scan Measure Unreliable

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have published findings that question the reliability of a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measure. The study, "Assessment of Medicare's Imaging Efficiency Measure for Emergency Department Patients With Atraumatic Headache" finds that the CMS measure - an attempt to reduce computed tomography (CT) scans in emergency departments (ED) - does not accurately determine which hospitals are performing CT scans inappropriately.

The study is electronically published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

With the recent surge of CT use in EDs, comes concern about radiation exposure and cost. CMS developed measure OP-15, "Use of Brain Computed Tomography in the Emergency Department for Atraumatic Headache," to evaluate the use of brain CT in the ED for atraumatic headache in order to improve imaging efficiency. The measure was implemented into the Outpatient Prospective Payment System in January 2012 but was never field-tested.

Jeremiah Schuur, MD, BWH Department of Emergency Medicine, and colleagues at 21 EDs in the United States studied the reliability, validity, and accuracy of measure OP-15. The measure uses Medicare billing records to determine whether a CT was clinically appropriate.

The researchers compared the data reliability of the measure as obtained from CMS administrative data against data from ED medical records. They reviewed 748 patient visits that CMS labeled as having undergone inappropriate brain CTs based on billing data. However, when the patients' medical records were reviewed, they showed that the bills didn't tell the whole story; the researchers discovered that 65 percent of the CT scans actually complied with Medicare's measure and another 18 percent of patients had valid reasons for the CTs documented on their charts. Overall, 83 percent of the patients should not have been labeled as having been inappropriately imaged.

This led researchers to conclude that CMS measure OP-15 may lead to inaccurate comparisons of EDs' imaging performance.

"It is important for physicians, hospitals and payers to work together to develop systems that ensure that every CT that is performed is appropriate," said Schuur. "Our research finds that OP-15 may not be a valid measure of imaging in elders and that when calculated from Medicare claims, can produce unreliable data."

"Further research should focus on developing scientific evidence that could be used to better inform this measure," added Ali Raja, MD, associate director for trauma, BWH Department of Emergency Medicine, and study co-author. According to Raja, "existing guidelines built around solid evidence for the appropriate use of CT for other clinical conditions could serve as a guide for the measurement of these and similar conditions."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our headache / migraine section for the latest news on this subject. Data collection efforts at BWH for this study were partly funded by an internal grant from the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization.
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Migraines Hurt Your Head But Not Your Brain

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 14 Aug 2012 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Migraines Hurt Your Head But Not Your Brain

Migraines currently affect about 20 percent of the female population, and while these headaches are common, there are many unanswered questions surrounding this complex disease. Previous studies have linked this disorder to an increased risk of stroke and structural brain lesions, but it has remained unclear whether migraines had other negative consequences such as dementia or cognitive decline. According to new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), migraines are not associated with cognitive decline.

This study is published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). "Previous studies on migraines and cognitive decline were small and unable to identify a link between the two. Our study was large enough to draw the conclusion that migraines, while painful, are not strongly linked to cognitive decline," explained Pamela Rist ScD, a research fellow in the Division of Preventive Medicine at BWH, and lead author on this study.

The research team analyzed data from the Women's Health Study, a cohort of nearly 40,000 women, 45 years and older. In this study, researchers analyzed data from 6,349 women who provided information about migraine status at baseline and then participated in cognitive testing during follow-up. Participants were classified into four groups: no history of migraine, migraine with aura (transient neurology symptoms mostly of the visual field), migraine without aura, and past history of migraine. Cognitive testing was carried out in two year intervals up to three times.

"Compared with women with no history of migraine, those who experienced migraine with or without aura did not have significantly different rates of cognitive decline," explained Rist. "This is an important finding for both physicians and patients. Patients with migraine and their treating doctors should be reassured that migraine may not have long term consequences on cognitive function."

There is still a lot that is unknown about migraines. However this study offers promising evidence for patients and their treating physicians. More research needs to be done to understand the consequences of migraine on the brain and to establish strategies to influence the course of the disease in order to optimize treatment strategies.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our headache / migraine section for the latest news on this subject. This research was supported by The Women's Health Study is supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL-043851, HL-080467, HL-099355) and the National Cancer Institute (CA-47988). The cognitive substudy of the Women's Health Study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Aging (AG-15933). PMR was supported by a training grant from the National Institute of Aging (AG-00158). TK is supported in part by a Chair of Excellence grant of the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, R09177DD).
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posted by polly on 8 Sep 2012 at 9:43 am

i only get migrain if i smell smoke, strong deodorant too bright light or drink red wine

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posted by AnnieKat on 29 Aug 2012 at 12:16 pm

This is the most useless study I have yet come across. How is this supposed to help migraines? I can tell you that indeed there is memory loss, but I believe it's associated with taking triptans more than the migraine itself. There is NO cognitive decline whatsoever!!! What else you need to know? Now please work on something that will provide me with something useful...

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posted by Kit Wilson on 14 Aug 2012 at 8:22 pm

Reassuring after a lifetime of recurrent migraine. A lengthy hallucinatory bout this past week has had me worried, as I did experience a few days of reduced memory function and outright dizziness. However, recovery is now nearly complete!

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'Migraines Hurt Your Head But Not Your Brain'

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Migraines Linked To Behavioral Problems In Kids

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Headache / Migraine
Article Date: 17 Sep 2012 - 11:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Migraines Linked To Behavioral Problems In Kids

Children with migraines are much more inclined to suffer from behavioral issues, such as anxiety, depression, and social and attention issues than those who do not have headaches.

The more recurrent the headaches, the more likely the chance of a behavioral disorder developing, according to the new study published in Cephalagia.

Marco Arruda, director of the Glia Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, together with Marcelo Bigal of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, conducted a study of 1,856 Brazilian children ages 5 to 11 which looked at the connection of emotional symptoms with migraine and tension-type headaches (TTH).

The study used headache surveys, in addition to the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), to measure emotional symptoms. The researchers instructed teachers how to walk parents through the questionnaires, step by step.

Children with migraines had a much greater probability of irregular behavioral scores than children without headaches, primarily in social, anxiety-depressive, internalizing, and attention areas.

Children with TTH were affected in the same areas, but to a lesser extent. With more frequency of headaches, abnormal behavioral scores increased. Over half of the migraine sufferers had issues with internalizing behaviors. Externalizing behaviors, such as breaking rules or becoming aggressive, were no more likely among the children with headaches. The authors advised that the CBCL may not be efficient enough to measure this correlation in detail.

Arruda explains:

"As previously reported by others, we found that migraine was associated with social problems. The 'social' domain identifies difficulties in social engagement as well as infantilized behavior for the age and this may be associated with important impact on the personal and social life."

Children frequently suffer from migraines, which affect over three percent to one fifth of children from early childhood to adolescence. Earlier research has suggested that children with migraines are more likely to have other psychological and physical problems, including depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, and attention disorders.

Authors suggest including factors, such as headache frequency, is important, although often left out of studies - until recently. Health providers can now be aware of this possibility in children and properly treat the problem.

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald
Copyright: Medical News Today
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posted by kimberly ramay on 7 Nov 2012 at 5:28 pm

i have a 22 year old daughter who was diagnosed with migraines at the age of 13 shes been on medication for almost 10 years she does have depression and phycical and adhd she also gets aggresive at times.now the doctors want to do a catscane to check for tumers i dont think that is the problem can you help

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posted by Marcia Guimaraes MD PhD on 19 Sep 2012 at 9:52 am

The research directs our attention to the possible connections between headaches & migraines & behavioral problems in children. There is also need to include photofobia and reading disabilities in this research - we have undergone a review of 92 cases of migraines and headaches in children and in our series most of them also had altered behavioral patterns.

If the authors are interested we'd like to share our data with them.

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'Migraines Linked To Behavioral Problems In Kids'

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First Study To Refute A Common Health Misconception: Children's Headaches Rarely Indicate A Need For Eyeglasses

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Eye Health / Blindness
Article Date: 14 Nov 2012 - 0:00 PST Current ratings for:
First Study To Refute A Common Health Misconception: Children's Headaches Rarely Indicate A Need For Eyeglasses

A new study provides the first clear evidence that vision or eye problems are rarely the cause of recurring headaches in children, even if the headaches usually strike while the child is doing schoolwork or other visual tasks. Many parents assume that frequent headaches mean their child needs glasses, so they ask their doctor to refer their child for an eye exam. This study was conducted by pediatric ophthalmologists who wanted to find reliable answers for parents, family doctors and pediatricians facing this common health question. The research was presented at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, conducted jointly this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

In this retrospective study, which was conducted at the ophthalmology clinic of Albany Medical Center in New York state, researchers reviewed the medical records of 158 children under age 18 who were seen at the clinic for frequent headaches from 2002-11. All of the children received complete eye exams by the clinic's ophthalmologists.

No significant correlation was found between their frequent headaches and a need for vision correction. The researchers reached this conclusion by comparing the results of the clinic's exams of the children with headaches to the records of their previous eye exams and other relevant medical care. Eye health and vision test results remained unchanged from earlier exams for 75 percent of the children. Also, children who already had eyeglasses were not found to need new prescriptions at the time they were seen at the clinic for headaches. Although about 14 percent of the children reported that their headaches occurred while doing visual tasks like homework, and about nine percent reported visual symptoms associated with their headaches, a need for vision correction did not appear to be the primary cause or a significant factor in any of these cases, according to the study.

The researchers considered it positive that most of the children's headaches resolved over time. Follow up reports from parents showed that headaches improved in 76.4 percent of all study subjects, including those who did and those who did not receive new vision correction prescriptions. Children who received new prescriptions were not more likely than others to have their headaches improve. Assessing the causes of the headaches and addressing the children's long-term outcomes were beyond the scope of this study.

"We hope our study will help reassure parents that in most cases their children's headaches are not related to vision or eye problems, and that most headaches will clear up in time," said Zachary Roth, M.D., who led the research team. "The information should also be useful to family doctors and pediatricians in caring for children and parents who have this common health concern."

About thirty percent of the children in the study had eye conditions that went beyond the need for vision correction, including strabismus (misaligned eyes) amblyopia ("lazy eye") or other rarer, more serious conditions. Seventeen percent had a family history of migraine. Because this was a retrospective study, the researchers were unable to connect these factors with headache causes.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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'First Study To Refute A Common Health Misconception: Children's Headaches Rarely Indicate A Need For Eyeglasses'

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Botox Helps Migraines "a Little"

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Academic Journal
Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Article Date: 25 Apr 2012 - 7:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Botox Helps Migraines "a Little"

Using botulinum toxin A (Botox) injections for chronic migraine sufferers helps them "a little", and does not appear to be the amazing therapy some people believe or claim it to be, researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). The authors added that Botox was not better than placebo in preventing chronic-tension-type headaches or episodic migraine.

Botox has been approved for the preventive treatment of chronic migraines by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The researchers wrote, as background information in their article:

"Migraine and tension-type headaches are common. Although up to 42 percent of adults experience tension-type headaches sometime in their life, most do not seek medical advice.

Migraines are less common, with a worldwide prevalence between 8 to 19%, but as associated with greater disability. Migraine headaches are responsible for $1 billion in medical costs and $16 billion in lost productivity per year in the United States alone."

Doctors initially reported improvements in some migraine symptoms among patients who were administered cosmetic Botox injections. This triggered a succession of studies, many of which suggested that Botox injections might benefit individuals suffering from various types of headaches, including migraine.

However, the majority of the reports either had unconvincing evidence regarding Botox's migraine benefits, or contradictory findings.

Jeffrey L. Jackson, M.D., M.P.H. and team set out to determine whether Botox might be useful as a preventative therapy for chronic daily headaches, tension headaches, or migraine in adults. They examined and gathered data on 27 randomized placebo-controlled human studies involving 5,313 adults, as well as four other randomized comparisons using different drugs.

They explained that headaches can be classed as: Episodic - when the sufferer gets up to 15 headaches monthly
Chronic - when the sufferer gets at least 15 headaches monthly (chronic daily headaches, tension headaches, or migraine attacks) They found that those given Botox had moderately fewer monthly headaches - out of 1,115 patients, 2.06 fewer headaches monthly. Chronic migraine attacks among 1,508 patients who received Botox dropped moderately too, by 2.3 headaches per month.

Botox did not, however, reduce the frequency of chronic tension-type headaches among 675 patients, neither did it alter the rate at which 1,835 sufferers of episodic migraine had attacks.

The following possible undesirable side effects were linked to those receiving Botox, when compared to the placebo patients: Drooping of the upper eyelid (blepharoptosis)Neck painStiffness in their necksTightness of the skinTingling, or a prickly sensation (paresthesias)Weakness in musclesBotox was found to be no better than topiramate in reducing headache frequency, or amitriptyline for migraine frequency.

The authors wrote:

"Botulinum toxin A was not associated with a reduction in headache frequency vs. valproate in a study of patients with chronic and episodic migraines (0.84 headaches per month) or in a study of patients with episodic migraines (0.3 headaches per month).

Botulinum toxin A was associated with a greater reduction in average headache severity than methylprednisolone in a single trial among patients experiencing chronic tension-type headaches (-2.5 headaches per month)."

The researchers concluded:

"Our analyses suggest that botulinum toxin A may be associated with improvement in the frequency of chronic migraine and chronic daily headaches, but not with improvement in the frequency of episodic migraine, chronic tension-type headaches, or episodic tension-type headaches.

However, the association of botulinum toxin A with clinical benefit was small. Botulinum toxin A was associated with a reduction in the number of headaches per month from 19.5 to 17.2 for chronic migraine and from 17.5 to 15.4 for chronic daily headaches."

Written by Christian Nordqvist

View drug information on Botox.
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Visit our headache / migraine section for the latest news on this subject. "Botulinum Toxin A for Prophylactic Treatment of Migraine and Tension Headaches in Adults - A Meta-analysis"
Jeffrey L. Jackson, MD, MPH; Akira Kuriyama, MD; Yasuaki Hayashino, MD, DMSc, MPH
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posted by Ted Helwig on 10 Jul 2012 at 11:34 am

I was given treatment of drugs to help with my severe headaches and not enough relief. I was then injected with Botox, it took deep and shallow injections into the neck muscle plus stretching therapy. I'm so grateful for this treatment.

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'Botox Helps Migraines "a Little"'

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Tell us about your life at the college, and how you deal with your headaches!

As anyone who suffers from migraines, getting things done can witnesses can sometimes be impossible. So what happens if you're a student taking a full-load of courses, work a part-time job, and try to have some semblance of a social life? I've suffered from chronic daily headache (CDH) for over 7 years now, but I can say with confidence that I live as a successful college Junior despite my pain am life. I am not saying that my headaches have disappeared, and I am not saying that the pain does not ever get the best of me. Road to the college, however, has provided me a unique opportunity to take control over my health. Here are some things that I like about my headache in the past two and a half years at the college have discovered:

Migraine attacks are going to happen. And they are likely to happen at the worst possible time. Getting upset and stressed about it is a normal reaction, but it is not going to help anything. Take some medicine, some sleep, and concentrate on getting the cycle. Treat everything as soon as you feel more comfortable.People are more understanding than you might think. Talk to your professors, your roommates, and your employers early on. it is up to you to your college experience as headache-friendly as possible.Don't be afraid to say no. If you are experiencing a migraine attack, it may not be a bad idea to stay in for the night. There will be more parties. You can feel excluded in the moment for not going, but that's better than not being able to get out of bed the next day because you overdid it.Don't be afraid to say Yes. This is college! These four years go by faster than you can think of, and you want to look back on it with no regrets. If you have the anticipation of a headache stop you from diving in to let you all the great opportunities, you will miss college brings in front of you.Remember, you're not alone. I came to college thinking that I had nobody to run here. Ironically, within the first month of school, I had a good friend via my rhetoric class which turned out to be terrible migraine five or six times per month! It was important to know that I had someone to talk to who understood what I was going through. Since then I've meet a handful of other people experiencing the same thing.

Dealing with headache is never an easy thing to do, especially if the hectic life of a college student. All tips and tricks in the world won't change that. But if you take the driver's seat, your college experience doesn't have to be anything less than amazing. So for all you students out there, what is your advice? Tell us about your life at the college, and how you deal with your headaches!

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Symptoms And Severity Of Fibromuscular Dysplasia

Main Category: Vascular
Also Included In: Headache / Migraine;  Stroke
Article Date: 28 Jun 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Symptoms And Severity Of Fibromuscular Dysplasia

A patient registry is proving invaluable in cataloging the clinical features, symptoms, severity, and outcomes of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), a non-inflammatory vascular disease that can cause narrowing of arteries in the carotid (neck) and renal (kidney) arteries, which can result in headache, strokes, and aneurysms. Registry data revealed that 91 percent of patients are women diagnosed in the prime of their lives. As a result, physicians are developing best practices that can lead to early diagnosis and treatment with the goal of improved outcomes and fewer adverse vascular events. The registry results are published in the print edition of Circulation.

"This is the largest study published to date; most previous studies included single case reports or small case series," says Jeffrey W. Olin, DO, the study's lead investigator, and Professor of Medicine and Director of Vascular Medicine and the Vascular Diagnostic Laboratory at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "Seventy percent of the people in the registry have high blood pressure, 10 percent have had strokes, and 20 percent have had an aneurysm." Additionally, there was an average delay in diagnosis of approximately four years from the onset of symptoms.

The study reviews the first 447 patients enrolled in the FMD registry at nine centers in the United States, including Mount Sinai. The registry has since grown to nearly 600 patients. Until now, the disease has been considered rare, but Dr. Olin thinks that it is probably much more common, and some experts believe it may affect up to 4-5 percent of the female population.

Signs of FMD that physicians and patients should be attentive to include: high blood pressure in patients under age 35, or uncontrolled high blood pressure at any age; unrelenting headaches; pulsatile tinnitus, where a sound in the ear sounds like a swooshing and occurs with the heartbeat; stroke under age 60; a bruit (abnormal sound when listening with a stethoscope) in the abdomen; a noise in the neck when the doctor listens to it, called carotid bruit, suggesting there is turbulence to blood flow in the artery; a dissection or aneurysm of an artery. A big challenge to diagnosing FMD continues to be that many doctors do not listen to the neck with a stethoscope, says Dr. Olin. Diagnosis is confirmed through imaging, such as ultrasound, CT angiography, MR angiography, or catheter-based angiography.

The cause of FMD is unknown. Treatment varies. For example, when FMD results in high blood pressure, percutaneous balloon angioplasty may be performed. For a tear in an artery (dissection), physicians may recommend stenting the affected artery. In some cases, anti-platelet drugs such as aspirin may be used. Still, investigators say more data are needed to understand the cause of the disease and to treat it optimally.

"If the field is to move forward, we urgently need more funding for genetic research into patients affected and other family members," says Dr. Olin.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our vascular section for the latest news on this subject. Other FMD Patient Registry sites include Cleveland Clinic, University of Michigan, Greenville Hospital System, Mayo Clinic, North Central Heart Institute, Ochsner Health System, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Virginia, University of California Davis, and Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute.
The study was funded by the patient advocacy group, the Fibromuscular Dysplasia Society of America (FMDSA), which can be found at http://www.fmdsa.org.
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Study Of Indoor Air Quality Risks In United Arab Emirates Is Culturally Sensitive

Main Category: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture
Also Included In: Respiratory / Asthma;  Headache / Migraine
Article Date: 11 May 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Study Of Indoor Air Quality Risks In United Arab Emirates Is Culturally Sensitive

The rapid shift from nomadic life to modern-day culture in the United Arab Emirates has exposed residents to significant indoor air quality risks that can lead to respiratory illness, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

With the swift modernization of the country, UAE governmental agencies have not performed the research required to pinpoint health risks, the study reported. The need to develop governmental research capacity makes collaborations with U.S. research teams vital, but the studies must be conducted in a culturally appropriate way.

"This is an important area of investigation, and the UAE is completely under-researched," said Karin Yeatts, Ph.D., lead study author and assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. "There are many good scientific questions that need to be answered, and this area of the world is very deserving of science and public health work."

Knowing about indoor air quality risks is important, Yeatts said, because people in the UAE spend 80 percent to 95 percent of their time indoors escaping the high temperatures.

In the study published in May's Environmental Health Perspectives, Yeatts coordinated a research team from UAE and UNC's public health school to test air quality in 628 urban and rural family residences from October 2009 to May 2010. The study reached 1,590 participants, including men, women and children, ages 6 to 18.

Researchers collected data for five air pollutants - sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide - and monitored indoor air quality for one week.

Thirty percent of homes had measurable levels of sulfur dioxide, and 29 percent had quantifiable levels of formaldehyde. For nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, 9 percent and 12 percent of households, respectively, recorded measurable concentrations.

Researchers compared the results to households without significant pollutant levels and discovered family members in homes with measurable sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were twice as likely to have doctor-diagnosed asthma. The team also found an increased prevalence of wheezing, including symptoms that limited speech, with these same pollutants. Neurological difficulties, such as difficulty concentrating, were loosely linked to quantifiable exposure of formaldehyde.

UAE households also were exposed to pollutants not found as frequently in the United States, specifically incense. Roughly 86 percent of UAE homes burn incense at least once a week, and formaldehyde levels are three times higher among those households that do so more frequently. Family members in these homes are more likely to report headaches, forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating.

'Burning incense in this region of the world is an important cultural practice, but I do think there are things people can do to reduce exposure," Yeatts said. "People can reduce their exposure by opening windows, burning incense for a shorter time or burning smaller amounts."

Ultimately, Yeatts said, researchers hope the data collection and analysis will help improve public health knowledge in the UAE and support campaigns to limit exposures and risks associated with indoor air pollutants.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our water - air quality / agriculture section for the latest news on this subject. Yeatts' study was funded by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi and partially supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
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American Headache Society Scientific Conference Focuses On Traumatic Brain Injury

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Veterans / Ex-Servicemen;  Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 21 Jun 2012 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
American Headache Society Scientific Conference Focuses On Traumatic Brain Injury

The impact of traumatic injuries to the brain - whether sustained in combat or on the playing fields of America's schools - is a major topic for international migraine specialists the week of June 18 as they gather in Los Angeles for the 54th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Headache Society. This is among many timely issues concerning headache, migraine, and brain injuries on the four-day agenda here which runs through Sunday morning, June 24.

"As migraine specialists, we cannot ignore the fact that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an increasingly common medical problem today and that those who experience severe and untreated blows to the brain may end up with serious neurological damage and long-lasting medical and psychological problems," said Elizabeth Loder, MD, MPH, president of the American Headache Society (AHS) and Chief of the Division of Headache and Pain in the Department of Neurology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "We owe it to our nation's military as well as to our children in contact sports to raise awareness of TBI and make this issue a national health priority."

Dr. Loder cited a 60% increase in emergency room visits by adolescents for sports-related brain injuries over the last decade, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control late last year.

"The rising incidence of these injuries, which may have serious long-term consequences for many young people, is a public health problem of epidemic proportion," she said. "High school and collegiate athletic departments are developing programs to minimize the risks but much more is needed to prevent and recognize severe concussions related to high-impact contact sports. These injuries may result in brain damage that can cause persistent severe headache, emotional problems such as depression and anxiety, sleep disturbances, memory and learning impairment, and even degenerative brain diseases later." The symposium, on June 23, will cover "School Issues with Concussion" and "Post-Concussion Headaches" and include world-renown experts on the subject.

In earlier wars, many TBIs would have been fatal

Modern warfare and high-tech explosives have ushered in a new era of traumatic brain injury among American combat soldiers. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Centers (DVBIC) estimates there have been more than 178,000 traumatic brain injuries sustained by soldiers in the wars of the last 10 years.

"In earlier wars, such injuries would have been fatal, but now with improvements in protective gear our soldiers are surviving, but often crippled with excruciating headache, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder," said Alan Finkel, MD, who has written widely on the subject. "Today we have bombs that exert 'overpressure' -- waves that come off an explosion at twice the speed of sound and compress everything in their wake without breaching either a soldier's bone or tissue. But the damage they do to the brain is enormous and unprecedented."

Dr. Finkel will chair the AHS session that includes discussion of "Military Traumatic Brain Injuries: Mild, Common, and Unique," "Epidemiology of Military Headache," and "Treating Military Post-Traumatic Headache."

Some 500 of the world's most eminent migraine and headache specialists are expected to attend. This year's theme, "Planting the Seed for Future Headache Research" will spotlight other areas of current basic and clinical research such as the role of the cortex in migraine, the role of imaging in patients with headache, the latest breaking science emerging from the nation's leading scientific laboratories in migraine research, and controversial issues in the diagnosis and management of complex headache disorders.

Migraine is one of the most ancient and mysterious of diseases with many myths and folklores attached to its diagnosis and treatment. Over the last 5,000 years, migraine sufferers subjected themselves to an array of extreme and bizarre treatments to find relief, Dr. Loder, MD, noted. These have included drilling a hole in the skull to let out the "bad humours," bloodletting, sorcery, binding a clay crocodile to the head, and inserting the bones of a vulture into the nose.

Some 36 million Americans suffer from migraine, more than have asthma and diabetes combined. An additional 6 million suffer from chronic migraine, where patients experience at least 15 headache days per month along with other disabling neurological symptoms. Migraine can be extremely disabling and costly - accounting for more than $20 billion each year in the United States. Costs are attributed to direct medical expenses (e.g. doctor visits, medications) and indirect expenses (e.g. missed work, lost productivity).

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Porn-Induced Headaches Suffered By Young Man

Editor's Choice
Academic Journal
Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 30 Jun 2012 - 8:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Porn-Induced Headaches Suffered By Young Man

A single young man who was found to develop severe headaches five minutes into watching pornographic videos has been reported by researchers from India in the journal Archives of Behavior. The 24-year old professional, whose headaches were described as exploding holocranial headaches, had been complaining of porn-linked head pains for over two years, the authors added.

Authors, Kuljeet Singh Anand and Vikas Dhikav, from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India, explained that the patient's headaches would peak within eight to ten minutes into watching a pornographic movie. In most cases, his pain became so intense that he could no longer watch the video. The young man had no history of diabetes or hypertension (high blood pressure).

As a means of avoiding the severe headaches, the man started to refrain from watching the videos. He had no symptoms of vomiting, nausea or phonophobia (dislike of loud sounds - classic symptom of migraine). There was no history of any head injury or meningoencephalitis when he was a young child.

The researchers said the patient had never suffered any headaches linked to sexual intercourse or masturbation - his problem only occurred when he watched pornographic videos.

After carrying out a systemic and physical examination of the young man, the authors found "nothing remarkable". There was no family history of migraine, no personal medical history that might be suggestive of migraine, tension type or exertional headache (headache as a result of straining or exertion). MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans of his brain came back normal.

The researchers advised him to take paracetamol (Tylenol, acetaminophen) 500 mg plus ibuprofen 400 mg thirty minutes before watching pornographic videos. The patient reported that this non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent combination provided "significant relief".

Kuljeet Singh Anand explained that headaches linked to sexual activity are rare. Sometimes, pre-orgasmic headache may be associated with space-occupying lesions.

What made this case unusual was that the man was getting headaches from watching pornography and not from sexual intercourse or masturbation. He was becoming aroused but experiencing no release - whether this fact might explain the severe headaches, the researchers are not sure.

Approximately 1% of people, most of them men, have sexual-activity linked headaches. Experts believe that simple arousal may, in some people trigger changes in nerve sensitivity, muscle tension and bloodflow in the brain which may alter pain perception.

In most cases, headaches linked to certain activities, such as sex or exercise can be treated with painkillers. Sometimes, however, they may be a sign of a tumor or aneurysm (not the case with this man).

The authors concluded:

"The probable mechanisms behind occurrence of headache in the present case could be alteration of nocioceptive* mechanisms in the trigemino-vascular system with increased pain sensitivity associated with a heightened emotional state associated with viewing pornorgraphy."

* ("nocioception" refers to the neural processes of encoding and processing noxious stimuli)

The trigeminovascular system is made up of neurons in the tregeminal nerve that supply the blood vessels in the brain with nerves. Some experts believe that the trigeminovascular system may play a role in some types of headaches.

Head deep facial and trigeminal nerves

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Visit our headache / migraine section for the latest news on this subject. "Headaches Induced by Pornography Use"
Kuljeet Singh Anand and Vikas Dhikav
Archives of Sexual Behavior 2012, DOI: 10.1007/s10508-012-9988-5 Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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n.p. "Porn-Induced Headaches Suffered By Young Man." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 30 Jun. 2012. Web.
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posted by Jenny Hutchings on 3 Jul 2012 at 6:05 am

The original article was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior and written by Kuljeet Singh Anand and Vikas Dhikav as shown in the references tab under the article. Christian Nordqvist is our head editor and simply reported on the study.

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posted by Su Su on 3 Jul 2012 at 5:52 am

This study was done on 1 or 2 people and written by a man named "Christian". What a joke! The brain in this person must have been smarter than he is. Then they said to take aspirn so you can watch that dirty stuff. Read the Bible there are no headaches there.

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posted by Memphis Eddy on 30 Jun 2012 at 8:26 am

I like it!
College of Medicine study porn related illness.
Old hip is turning over in his grave!
I like it!

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'Porn-Induced Headaches Suffered By Young Man'

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Our Moods Affected By Even Mild Dehydration

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Headache / Migraine;  Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 21 Feb 2012 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Our Moods Affected By Even Mild Dehydration

Most people only think about drinking water when they are thirsty; but by then it may already be too late.

Even mild dehydration can alter a person's mood, energy level, and ability to think clearly, according to two studies recently conducted at the University of Connecticut's Human Performance Laboratory.

The tests showed that it didn't matter if a person had just walked for 40 minutes on a treadmill or was sitting at rest - the adverse effects from mild dehydration were the same. Mild dehydration is defined as an approximately 1.5 percent loss in normal water volume in the body.

The test results affirm the importance of staying properly hydrated at all times and not just during exercise, extreme heat, or exertion, says Lawrence E. Armstrong, one of the studies' lead scientists and a professor of physiology in UConn's Department of Kinesiology in the Neag School of Education.

"Our thirst sensation doesn't really appear until we are 1 [percent] or 2 percent dehydrated. By then dehydration is already setting in and starting to impact how our mind and body perform," says Armstrong, an international expert on hydration who has conducted research in the field for more than 20 years. "Dehydration affects all people, and staying properly hydrated is just as important for those who work all day at a computer as it is for marathon runners, who can lose up to 8 percent of their body weight as water when they compete."

Separate groups of young women and men were tested. Twenty-five women took part in one study. Their average age was 23. The men's group consisted of 26 men with an average age of 20. All of the participants were healthy, active individuals, who were neither high-performance athletes nor sedentary - typically exercising for 30 to 60 minutes per day.

Each participant took part in three evaluations that were separated by 28 days. All of the participants walked on a treadmill to induce dehydration, and all of the subjects were hydrated the evening before the evaluations commenced. As part of the evaluation, the subjects were put through a battery of cognitive tests that measured vigilance, concentration, reaction time, learning, memory, and reasoning. The results were compared against a separate series of tests when the individuals were not dehydrated.

In the tests involving the young women, mild dehydration caused headaches, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating, according to one of the studies, which appears in the February issue of The Journal of Nutrition. The female subjects also perceived tasks as more difficult when slightly dehydrated, although there was no substantive reduction in their cognitive abilities.

In the tests involving the young men, mild dehydration caused some difficulty with mental tasks, particularly in the areas of vigilance and working memory, according to the results of the second UConn study. While the young men also experienced fatigue, tension, and anxiety when mildly dehydrated, adverse changes in mood and symptoms were "substantially greater in females than in males, both at rest and during exercise," according to the study. The men's study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition in November 2011.

"Even mild dehydration that can occur during the course of our ordinary daily activities can degrade how we are feeling - especially for women, who appear to be more susceptible to the adverse effects of low levels of dehydration than men," says Harris Lieberman, one of the studies' co-authors and a research psychologist with the Military Nutrition Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Mass. "In both sexes these adverse mood changes may limit the motivation required to engage in even moderate aerobic exercise. Mild dehydration may also interfere with other daily activities, even when there is no physical demand component present."

Why women and men are so adversely affected by mild dehydration is unclear, and more research is necessary. But other research has shown that neurons in the brain detect dehydration and may signal other parts of the brain regulating mood when dehydration occurs. This process could be part of an ancient warning system protecting humans from more dire consequences, and alerting them to the need for water to survive.

In order to stay properly hydrated, experts like Armstrong recommend that individuals drink eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day, which is approximately equivalent to about 2 liters of water. People can check their hydration status by monitoring the color of their urine. Urine should be a very pale yellow in individuals who are properly hydrated. Urine that is dark yellow or tan in color indicates greater dehydration. Proper hydration is particularly important for high-risk groups, such as the elderly, people with diabetes, and children.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our nutrition / diet section for the latest news on this subject. The dehydration studies were supported by Danone Research of France and were conducted in partnership with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, University of Arkansas, and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital's Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine in Dallas, Texas. UConn professor Douglas Casa, adjunct assistant professor Elaine Lee, and members of the graduate student team at UConn's Korey Stringer Institute for the prevention of sudden death in sport helped gather data for the two studies.
University of Connecticut Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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'Our Moods Affected By Even Mild Dehydration'

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