ABC of Headache

aim with this ABC book is to provide the reader with a clear,
concise text to recognize and manage headache effectively. We are
grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues to
provide current information based on best available evidence and
expert specialist opinion.
First we present an overall approach to headache including
eliciting the history, identifying ‘red fl ags’ and current issues in
investigation and management. The chapters that follow are
carefully selected case studies with emphasis on history taking to
establish differential diagnoses, investigations that may be required
and specifi c management strategies. Although we illustrate the
main primary headaches of migraine, tension-type headache,
and cluster headache, we recognize that not all secondary
headache types are covered. Obvious headaches due to head
trauma or infection for example, have been omitted. Instead, we
have chosen common but under-recognized medication overuse
headaches and headaches attributed to depression, neck pain
and trigeminal neuralgia. Headaches associated with underlying
cranial vascular disorder and brain tumours, although rare, are
included since they are greatly feared by both patients and healthcare professionals.
Individual case studies cannot address all the issues relating to
a specifi c group of headache sufferers. However, we felt it was
important to devote chapters on headache and associated syndromes in children and adolescents to highlight their specifi c
issues. With regard to headache in the elderly, the treatments are
the same as for other age groups, but the differential diagnosis is
particularly important as demonstrated in the chapter on giant cell
arteritis. As a quarter of all women are affected by migraine and
half of them recognise an association with menstruation, we felt it
was appropriate to include a case study for this group.
We hope that this approach to headache refl ects presentation of
headache to a wide range of healthcare professionals, helping them
to improve the diagnosis and the management of this complex and
challenging condition.