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Headache Health Article

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Prevention

Lifestyle modification is one measure that people can take to lower their risk of tension headaches. They should get enough sleep and eat nutritious meals at regular times. Skipping meals, using unbalanced fad diets to lose weight, and insufficient or poor-quality sleep can bring on tension headaches.

Some headaches may be prevented by avoiding substances and situations that trigger them, or by employing alternative therapies, such as yoga and regular exercise. Proper lighting may prevent headaches caused by eyestrain. Because food allergies are often linked with headaches, especially cluster strain headaches and migraines, identification and elimination of the allergycausing food(s) from the diet can be an important preventive measure. Women with migraines often benefit by switching from oral contraceptives to another method of birth control, or by discontinuing estrogen replacement therapy. Prophylactic treatments for migraine include prednisone, calcium channel blockers, and methysergide.

BOOKS

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

Pelletier, Kenneth R. The Best Alternative Medicine, Part II, "CAM Therapies for Specific Conditions: Headache." New York: Simon&Schuster, 2002.

Rapoport, Alan M., and Fred D. Sheftell. Headache Disorders: A Management Guide for Practitioners. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1996.

Somerville, Robert. The Alternate Advisor: The Complete Guide to Natural Therapies and Alternative Treatments. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1997.

Ying, Zhou Zhong, and Jin Hui De. Clinical Manual of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture. New York: Churchill Livingston, 1997.

PERIODICALS

Guyuron, B., T. Tucker, and J. Davis. "Surgical Treatment of Migraine Headaches." Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 109 (June 2002): 2183-9.

Headache Classification Subcommittee of the International Headache Society. "The International Classification of Headache Disorders," 2nd ed. Cephalalgia 24 (2004) (Supplement 1): 1–150.

Mendizabai, Jorge, M.D. "Cluster Headache." eMedicine, 26 September 2003. <http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic70.htm>.

Sahai, Soma, M.D., Robert Cowan, M.D., and David Y. Ko, M.D. "Pathophysiology and Treatment of Migraine and Related Headache." eMedicine, 30 April 2002. <http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic517.htm>.

Singh, Manish K., M.D. "Muscle Contraction Tension Headache." eMedicine, 5 October 2001. <http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic231.htm>.

Vernon, H., C. S. McDermaid, and C. Hagino. "Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials of Complementary/Alternative Therapies in the Treatment of Tension-Type and Cervicogenic Headache." Complementary Therapies in Medicine. (1999): 142–55.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Council for Headache Education (ACHE). 19 Mantua Road, Mt. Royal, NJ 08061. (609) 423-0043 or (800) 255-2243. <http://www.achenet.org/>.

National Headache Foundation. 428 West St. James Place, Chicago, IL 60614. (800) 843-2256. <http://www.headaches.org/>.

OTHER

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). "Headache—Hope Through Research." Bethesda, MD: NINDS, <http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/pubs/headache_htr>.

NINDS. "Migraine Information Page." Bethesda, MD: NINDS, 2003. <http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/pubs/migraineupdate.htm>.

Rebecca J. Frey, PhD

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