Medical Health Encyclopedia

Headache

Headaches may occur if you have a cold, the flu, fever, or premenstrual syndrome.

If you are over age 50 and are experiencing headaches for the first time, a condition called temporal arteritis may prove to be the cause. Symptoms of this condition include impaired vision and pain aggravated by chewing. There is a risk of becoming blind with this condition. Therefore, it must be treated by your doctor right away.

Rare causes of headache include:

• Brain aneurysm -- a weakening of the wall of a blood vessel that can rupture and bleed into the brain
• Brain tumor
• Stroke or TIA
• Brain infection like meningitis or encephalitis

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References:

Lipton RB, Bigal ME, Steiner TJ, Silberstein SD, Olesen J. Classification of primary headaches. Neurology. August 10, 2004;63(3):427-35.

American Council for Headache Education. Headache Information page. Available at: http://www.achenet.org/understanding /. Accessed March 23, 2005.

Snow V. Pharmacologic management of acute attacks of migraine and prevention of migraine headache. Ann Intern Med. 2002; 137(10): 840-849.

Kaniecki RG. Migraine and tension-type headache: an assessment of challenges in diagnosis. Neurology. 2002; 58(9 Suppl 6): S15-20.

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