Can cluster headaches be prevented?
Since cluster headache episodes may be spaced years apart, and since the first headache of a new cluster episode can't be predicted, daily medication may not be warranted.
Lifestyle changes may help minimize the risk of a cluster headache flare. Stopping smoking and minimizing alcohol may prevent future episodes of cluster headache.
What diseases cause secondary headaches?
Headache is a symptom associated with many illnesses. While head pain itself is the issue with primary headaches, secondary headaches are due to an underlying disease or injury that needs to be diagnosed and treated. Controlling the headache symptom will need to occur at the same time that diagnostic tests are being considered to diagnose the underlying disease. Some of the causes of secondary headache may be potentially life-threatening and deadly. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential if damage is to be limited.
The International Headache Society lists eight categories of secondary headache. A few examples in each category are noted. (This is not a complete list).
Head and neck trauma
- Injuries to the head may cause bleeding in the spaces between the layers of tissue that surround the brain (subdural, epidural and subarachnoid spaces) or within the brain tissue itself.
- Concussions, where head injury occurs without bleeding
- A symptom of whiplash and neck injury
Blood vessel problems in the head and neck
- Stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
- Arteriovenous malformations (AVM) may cause headache before they leak
- Carotid artery inflammation
- Temporal arteritis (inflammation of the temporal artery)
Non-blood vessel problems of the brain
- Brain tumors, either primary, originating in the brain, or metastatic from acancer that began in another organ
- Seizures
- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension, once named pseudotumor cerebri, where the pressure is too high in the cerebrospinal fluid within the spinal canal.
Medications and drugs (including withdrawal from those drugs)
Infection
- Meningitis
- Encephalitis
- HIV/AIDS
- Systemic infections (for example, pneumonia or influenza)
Changes in the body's environment
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Dehydration
- Hypothyroidism
- Renal dialysis
Problems with the eyes, ears, nose throat, teeth and neck
Psychiatric disorders
