10 May,2011 08:40 AM IST | | Dhvani Solani
Headaches affect half to three-quarters of the adult population, according to the WHO. Active! on why self-medication is not the best way to put an end to that throbbing pain between your ears
According to a study done by the World Health Organisation (WHO), headache disorders, including migraine and 'tension' headaches, affected three out of four adults between the ages of 18 to 65, last year, making it the most prevalent disorder among mankind. It was also found that 50 per cent of people with headaches are estimated to resort to self-medication.
"Headaches can be serious, because they affect the quality of life, especially if they are recurrent," says Dr K Ravishankar, who runs a headache clinic in Sion. "Even though headaches are not curable, they are definitely controllable. Because, even after testing, no abnormality can be seen from the outside, we have a tendency to self-medicate."
As it turns out, self-medication might be the cause of the problem. "Taking analgesics, instead of migraine prevention medicines only makes things worse," says neurologist Dr Joy Desai. "The most common reason for headaches worldwide is migraine, which can result in not being able to function optimally or the inability to focus on cognitive tasks like reading or writing."
Typical migraine symptoms include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and a throbbing pain that is usually felt on one side of the head. Tension-type headaches, on the other hand, are constant and dull and are accompanied with a tightening band-like sensation around the neck or head and arise primarily from stress and anxiety. Headaches can also arise from over-use of medication. More 'serious' headaches can be indicative of a brain tumour, meningitis or intracranial hemorrhage.u00a0
"In India, everyone believes they are an expert in cricket, politics and medicine," says Dr Desai. "It's important to get medical help in recurrent cases. Preventive measures including keeping yourself hydrated, wearing sunglasses, not keeping huge gaps between meals, and avoiding binge drinking can go a long way in keeping that headache at bay."
Keyu00a0findings from the study
>>u00a0Over 10 % of adults have migraine, and 1.7 - 4 % of the adult population are affected by headache on 15 or more days every month.
>> The rates for migraine and tension-type headache are about 40 %; from medication-overuse 10 %.
>> Worldwide, just four hours are committed to headache disorders in formal undergraduate medical training, and 10 hours in
specialist training.
