There cannot be many of us who have not suffered from a headache and yet, although they are so common, their cause remains a mystery. Further, though we generally talk about a headache it is surprising how few people know that there are actually a number of different types of headache.

For example, migraines affect some ten percent of the US population (in the region of 28 million individuals) and afflict three times as many women as men. And yet, in spite of the fact that such a large number of people suffer frequently from migraine headaches, we still do not know just what causes them. Of course there are a number of theories, the latest of which holds that they are caused by the interaction of chemicals within the brain such as serotonin and the nerve cells of the brain, however we do not know for for sure that this is the cause.

Cluster headaches, which are much rarer but also far more intense than migraines, affect only about one person in three hundred and tend to attack men much more than women. Once again however we only have a provisional idea about what leads to the stabbing pain that is frequently felt behind one eye in these particularly painful headaches. A few people suspect that the cause might be a problem with the hypothalamus but, at this time, there is no good evidence to support this theory.

The most common form of headache is what we normally refer to as ordinary or tension-type headaches and once more these are only partly understood. Here the list of possible causes is very long indeed and includes everything from what we eat to the amount of stress we are under. Attempting to pinpoint a specific cause has however as yet proved too difficult and just what leads to the ordinary everyday headache is still something of a mystery.

Perhaps the only saving grace is that we do have a large number of medications available to us to deal with the different types of headache and most of these are safe and effective for the majority of sufferers.

Migraines have proved hard to treat for a long time and the original ergot drugs used in their treatment had varying degrees of success. These were then replaced by triptan drugs which were more effective but which unfortunately carried several drawbacks. Now however the second generation of triptans are proving to be safe, show fewer side effects and work well for the majority of sufferers.

There has also been an increase in preventative medications used for migraine headaches such as calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, anti-seizure medications, anti-depressants and various other drugs which are in common use for the treatment of other well known conditions. For some people these will stop headaches from occurring at all, while for others they act to reduce the frequency of headaches.

For ordinary headaches over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol and aspirin (which have been with us for over 100 years) and newer medicines such as ibuprofen offer effective and safe relief in most cases. For people who suffer from regular headaches though care has to be taken because even the lowly aspirin can have side effects if taken too frequently.

Even though there is still so much that we do not understand about what causes headaches the fact that we can treat them effectively is a comfort to the many sufferers and particularly to the large number of people who suffer from frequently extremely debilitating migraines. However, surprisingly enough, only about half of all migraine sufferers ever seek treatment and so there are literally millions of people today needlessly suffering in silence.

If you are bothered by headaches and simple over-the-counter medications like aspirin or paracetamol do not work then, instead of sitting and suffering in silence, call in to see your physician who will almost certainly be able to help.

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