The “headache”: a widespread disorder to learn about
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The “headache” is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world such that the World Health Organization (WHO) places it 19th among the disabling pathologies.
The social impact of this disorder is high both for the direct costs of necessary treatments, and for the indirect ones in terms of decreased productivity.
The “headache” indeed, as commonly referred, is a disabling disease that may adverserly affect the quality of life of affected individuals.
The headaches can be classified into primary and secondary: in the first case, are included those forms of which it is not possible to identify a real organic cause. They are the most common, and affect in an episodic way about ten million Italians with a greater incidence on women. In most cases they can be solved or improved with an appropriate therapy. Generally, we can consider them as a mode of abnormal reaction of nervous system to certain environmental factors.
The primary headaches are classified into three categories: the migraine is the most known. It manifests itself mainly in adult age, between 35 and 45 years of age, interval in which affects the female population most. It may involve different areas of head and arise at any time of the day. It causes severe and pulsating pain, aggravated by movements or light and sensory stimuli.
The tension headaches identify the most common “headache” that anyone, at least occasionally, has experienced. They cause less intense pain, not necessarily affecting the performance of daily activities. The real difficulty arises when they tend to become chronic, causing a prolonged or repeated malaise.
Finally, the cluster headache, rarer but more disabling, causes intense pains, only rarely chronic. It is called “cluster” because individual attacks tend to concentrate in periods of few months and then disappear and reappear at a distance of time.
But the secondary headaches are less frequent but may depend on different pathologic conditions. The physician will prescribe more investigations for a correct diagnosis and assessment of appropriate therapy, based on the etiology of headache.
