q & a
By Gary Cohen
Seeing Red
Dr . Frederick G . Freitag
The pain of cluster headache can bring sufferers to their knees , but Dr . Frederick G . Freitag says the condition is manageable — with the right treatment .
When it comes to pain , there are many varieties — and headache sufferers are intimately familiar with all of them . There is the persistent , dull ache . The sharp , stabbing sting . The relentless , steady drum . But few headache varieties are more painful than cluster headache , a rare neurological disease defined by cyclical , “ clustered ” attacks .
Frederick G . Freitag , MD , osteopathic physician and vice president of the National Headache Foundation , has treated thousands of cluster headache patients during his career . After 27 years at the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago , Dr . Freitag recently became the medical director and director of headache medicine research for the Comprehensive Headache Center at Baylor Health Care System in Dallas .
In the past , he has been involved in drug research for cluster headache and has worked with organizations , such as ClusterBusters , to help spread the word about this excruciating headache disorder . He recently sat down with Head Wise to discuss cluster headache and what can be done to treat it .
HEAD WISE ( HW ): Tell us a little about cluster headache . DR . FREITAG : Cluster headache is considered one of the primary headache disorders . It has been thought to be akin to migraine . In fact , for years , it was called “ red migraine .” Cluster attacks are very different , though . They are a disorder that we believe to be related to a dysfunction in a small gland called the hypothalamus . This is , in essence , the Pentium chip for your brain because of how it controls a variety of things , including pain modulation and the autonomic nervous system .
HW : Who does cluster headache most commonly affect ? DR . FREITAG : From the newer epidemiologic studies , it is still a male predominant disorder . It ’ s about the reverse ratio from migraines . So 70 percent of all migraine sufferers are women — about 70 percent of all cluster headache sufferers are men .
HW : How can people learn to recognize cluster headache ? DR . FREITAG : It ’ s a much more severe pain than we typically associate with migraine . It ’ s usually located primarily in the eye and temple region . Many people will describe it as feeling like a hot , burning poker is being run through their eye . Thankfully , the pain is relatively brief in comparison to migraine . For patients with cluster headache , the attacks usually last 15 minutes to several hours , and they occur in groups , or bunches . They occur all together and then , as fast as they came on , they ’ re gone until the next cycle of
If you want to hear more from Dr . Freitag , you can download the full podcast or read the transcript online at www . headwisemag . org . www
24 HEAD WISE | Volume 1 , Issue 2 • 2011