Headache tutorial Flashcards
What is the difference between the cause of primary and secondary headaches?
Primary= no structural or metabolic abnormality
Secondary= caused by a structural or metabolic abnormality
Is there biomarkers for primary headaches?
No
What are the differences in onset of primary and secondary headaches?
Primary= generally chronic and episodic
Secondary= usually present as an abrupt single episode or new onset
What is the most common type of headache?
Migraine
What are the symptoms of a tension type headache?
Often bilateral, an achey pain that gets worse with stress. Little associative features
What constitutes a chronic headache?
More than 15 days a month
What percentage of headaches are secondary?
5%
What are the symptoms of a migraine?
Throbbing headache, associated with ‘aura’, visual problems; flashing lights and zig zag lines
Dizziness, brain fog, nausea and vomiting accompany it
Photophobia and photophobia are common
What is photophobia and phonophobia?
Photophobia= sensitivity to light Phonophobia= sensitive to sound
What can help relieve migraines?
Lying down in a dark room
What drops during migraine?
The ability to absorb oral drugs
What is the hypothesis for the pathophysiology of migraines?
Come from blood vessels that supply the brain
Migraine suffers have ‘sparkier’ reflexes that control the vessels
If they get too small or too large can cause migraine symptoms
What happens to migraine sufferers when brain vessels shrink too much?
Some parts of brain, such as vision processing cannot deal and the result is flashing lights or zig zag lines
Whole brain can be affected- can get brain fog
Migraine ‘aura’
What happens to migraine sufferers when brain vessels stretch too much?
If blood vessels become too big they activate receptors and the stretch causes the pain of a migraine.
When they become too stretched, can feel waves of pain in rhythm with heart beat
What is the treatment for migraines?
Pain killers are first option
Can also give triptans to reduce the size of blood vessels
What are the names of triptans?
Sumatriptan (Imigran®)
Zolmitriptan (Zomig®)
Rizatriptan (Maxalt®)
What are common side effects of triptans?
Common side effects of triptans include:
Warm sensations
Tightness
Tingling
Flushing
Feelings of heaviness in the face, limbs or chest
How should pain killers be given to a patient who suffers from migraines and why?
Treat it like an acute disorder, only give painkillers 3 days a week in large doses, to avoid chronic headaches from overuse
Should you scan patients who present with migraine symptoms?
Only if it will reassure the patient
May pick up something indecently that would have been benign
What is an example of a trigeminal autonomic cephalagia?
Cluster headache
What is trigeminal autonomic cephalagia?
Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TAC) is the name for a type of primary headache that occurs with pain on one side of the head in the trigeminal nerve area