22
SEPT/OCT 2014
Headaches Can
Change As You Age
New research being
conducted on common
health complaint
by Jamie Lober, Staff Writer
Headaches tend to be one of the
most common health complaints
to hit doctors’ offices. You may
wonder if headaches get worse as
you age and when you should be
concerned about their intensity
and frequency. Many people are
surprised to learn headaches affect
the entire lifespan.
“Typically, we see headaches are
a problem that starts in the young
teenage years,” said Dr. Siddharth
Kapoor, director of the headache
program at University of Kentucky
HealthCare.
If you are struggling with head-
aches, you are not alone. “Twelve
percent of the world’s population
suffers from migraine-type headache, the most common type of
headache disorder,” said Kapoor.
Some people are at greater risk
than others. “Usually for the most
common types of headaches,
there is a genetic predisposition or
susceptibility,” Kapoor said. “There
are occasionally triggers, but nothing can prevent them entirely for
someone who is susceptible.”
Everyone’s prognosis is different. “Some people get tremendous
benefit as they age and the headaches tend to go away, especially
for women who had a hormonal
influence on their headaches,” said
Kapoor. “But for many others, the
headaches tend to persist and occasionally can change their form.”
It is important to communicate
with your doctor about how you
are feeling. “Patients who have a
significant change in their headache type need to talk to their doctor about it because it may require
attention,” said Kapoor.
The key is to first understand
the type of headache you have.
“I recommend the patient bring
to the doctor’s office a detailed
description and good notes about
the headaches,” Kapoor said. This
includes:
• the headache’s location;
• what brings it on;
• what makes it better or worse;
• how it is affected by sleep or alcohol or caffeine consumption;
• what medications help it or
make it worse;
• what medications or incidents
in their life may have led to the
start of the headache; and
• if there is anyone else in the
family who has headaches.
The more information you
provide, the easier it is for the
doctor to arrive at a good diagnosis
and effective treatment. “We have
a good history of the patient, their
patterns and then an evaluation
and sometimes detailed testing
like MRI of the brain or imaging,
although that is not necessary for
everybody,” said Kapoor.
New research into headaches is
constantly underway, Kapoor said,
and treatments are getting creative.
“There is increased emphasis on
electrical or magnetic therapy or
medical devices to help, especially
for those with a lot of co-morbidities or other conditions like heart
conditions who sometimes cannot
take the medications that are commonly prescribed,” said Kapoor.
“Sometimes we use nerve-block
injections. Botox, which is used
for cosmetic reasons or stroke
victims, can be effective for a small
group that has frequent migraine
headaches. It is an FDA-approved
therapy.”
It is possible to gain control over
HEADACHE Continued on Page 31
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