DID YOU
KNOW ?
According to Dr . Seymour Diamond , 30 percent of migraine sufferers have some sort of dietary problem that triggers their condition , and nearly half of chronic migraines and 10 percent of all headaches are caused by medication overuse .
The inpatient unit of the clinic has since moved to its current location at Chicago ’ s Saint Joseph Hospital .
“ Nobody really thought of a [ headache ] unit to help people who were acutely ill or had a medication problem ,” Dr . Seymour Diamond says . “ The model of our unit was distinct .”
Despite collaborating closely with a hospital , Dr . Seymour Diamond recognized the importance of keeping the unit separate .
“ We didn ’ t rotate nurses from a surgical ward to our ward — our staff was trained to take care of [ headache ] patients ,” he says . “ That includes the nursing assistants , the unit secretary — everybody was attuned to the headache patient rather than the confusion of a general hospital .”
The Diamond Inpatient Headache Unit — still the only dedicated unit of its kind in the United States — has always focused on multidisciplinary care , which was a unique treatment philosophy when the facility opened nearly 30 years ago . In addition to the physicians and nursing staff , the unit staff includes a full-time pharmacist , biofeedback therapist , dietitian , physical therapist , psychiatrist and two psychologists to treat all aspects of pain . The unit even incorporated special lighting in its design that is easier on headache patients .
“ At the onset , we incorporated a lot of elements that people wouldn ’ t think of doing in terms of headache care ,” Dr . Seymour Diamond says . “ Today we ’ re nationally and internationally accepted , but at that time , our efforts were questioned .”
A Look Inside
Merle Diamond , MD , managing director of the Diamond Headache Clinic ( and Dr . Seymour Diamond ’ s daughter ), says inpatient headache care is a good option for people who don ’ t respond to traditional outpatient treatments . Although inpatient care likely won ’ t make headache disorders go away , it can significantly improve quality of life — the clinic ’ s inpatient population has a 75 percent improvement rate , she says .
“ Our goal is to give patients the ability to recover from chronic headache and become part of their family ’ s life again and part of the world again ,” Dr . Merle Diamond says . “ A lot of these people have lost that ability because they are bedridden and often don ’ t work .”
The Diamond Inpatient Headache Unit offers 38 adult beds and eight pediatric and adolescent beds . Approximately 2,000 patients are admitted each year — some even travel from other countries because this type of treatment is so rare .
Getting Patients On Board
One of the biggest challenges of treating complex headache disorders from an inpatient standpoint is setting realistic expectations .
“ Virtually every patient we see says they want to be cured of their headaches ,” Dr . Merle Diamond says . “ We have to adjust their expectations to the extent that they will be better , but sometimes they will still have headaches .”
Many headache sufferers , especially those who have become accustomed to taking medication for quick bouts of relief , find it hard to accept a multidisciplinary inpatient treatment approach . According to Richard Wenzel , PharmD , the pharmacist at The Diamond Inpatient Headache Unit , changing ingrained patient behaviors takes time .
“ Many would rather take a medication to treat their pain instead of trying nonmedication options , including biofeedback or stress coping techniques ,” Wenzel says .
Wenzel , who also teaches classes to help patients fully understand their medications , says medication-induced , or rebound , headaches are a major problem . He estimates at least half the patients who walk into the inpatient unit are overusing medication .
“ Some people didn ’ t know what else to do , so they just took more medication — that ’ s one side of the spectrum ,” he says . “ On the other side , we do have a small number of people with some kind of substance abuse disorder .”
42 HEAD WISE | Volume 1 , Issue 3 • 2011