Pharmacological Management Of Headaches

In this book, headache experts summarize all the currently available therapies for primary headaches and most importantly, describe the ‘tricks’ that can ensure the success of headache pharmacotherapy. Prevention and acute treatment of migraine and cluster headache receive particular attention and individual chapters are devoted to the treatment of primary headaches in special groups, i.e. children, pregnant women and the elderly. Further chapters focus on selected secondary headache disorders and cranial neuralgias for which pharmacotherapy is available. The book is designed to meet the daily practice needs of general physicians, general neurologists, neurologists in training and medical students. Headache remains a leading reason for people to seek medical consultation, and migraine and other primary headache disorders are classified by the WHO as among the most disabling medical conditions in the general population, often affecting individuals during their most productive years. Unfortunately, under treatment and mismanagement are the fate of many headache patients and this book provides a sound basis for optimizing treatment.

In this book, headache experts summarize all the currently available therapies for primary headaches and, most importantly, describe the?tricks? that can ensure the success of headache pharmacotherapy. Prevention and acute treatment of migraine and cluster headache receive particular attention, and individual chapters are devoted to the treatment of primary headaches in special groups, i.e., children, pregnant women, and the elderly. Further chapters focus on selected secondary headache disorders and cranial neuralgias for which pharmacotherapy is available. The book is designed to meet the daily practice needs of general physicians, general neurologists, neurologists in training, and medical students. Headache remains a leading reason for people to seek medical consultation, and migraine and other primary headache disorders are classified by the WHO as among the most disabling medical conditions in the general population, often affecting individuals during their most productive years. Unfortunately, undertreatment and mismanagement are the fate of many headache patients, and this book provides a sound basis for optimizing treatment.

M. WILKINSON Patients with frequent or daily headaches pose a very difficult problem for the physician who has to treat them, particularly as many patients think that there should be a medicine or medicines which give them instant relief. In the search for the compound which would meet this very natural desire, many drugs have been manufactured and the temptation for the physician is either to increase the dose of a drug which seems to be, at any rate, partially effective, or to add one or more drugs to those which the patient is already taking. Although there have been some references to the dangers of overdosage of drugs for migraine in the past, it was not until relatively recently that it was recognized that drugs given for the relief of headache, if taken injudiciously, may themselves cause headache. The first drugs to be implicated in this way were ergotamine and phenazone. In the case of ergotamine tartrate, the dangers of ergotism were well known as this was a disorder which had been known and written about for many years. In the treatment of headache, fully blown ergotism is rare and in recent years has usually been due to self-medication in doses much greater than those prescribed although there are a few recorded cases where toxic amounts have been given.

Another selection of the Jones and Bartlett Series: Contemporary Issues in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine Multidisciplinary Management of Migraine: Pharmacological, Manual, and Other Therapies is the first textbook focused on the multidisciplinary treatment of migraine including pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. This comprehensive text discusses epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of patients with migraine headache integrating clinical experience and expertise with current evidence-based best practices. The authors are worldwide experts recognized in migraine and headache with experience in academic, research, and practice settings. Multidisciplinary Management of Migraine: Pharmacological, Manual, and Other Therapies reviews the options for medical management of patients with migraine by way of: pharmacological interventions; musculoskeletal interventions including muscle and joint–centered interventions, manual therapy, and dry needling; and complementary and alternative medicine techniques including naturopathy, acupuncture, and placebo. With a multimodal and multidisciplinary approach, this comprehensive resource provides a variety of therapeutic tools for students and practitioners to provide excellent care and medical management of patients with migraine headache. Key Topics: • Theories of migraine pathophysiology • Sensitization mechanisms • Migraine triggers • Examination of the cervical and thoracic spinal joints • Pharmacological interventions • Musculoskeletal interventions • Alternative medicine techniques This textbook is perfect for completing a headache library combined with tension-type and cervicogenic headache. Browse additional titles in the Jones & Bartlett Learning Series Contemporary Issues in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine, at: http://go.jblearning.com/PTseries

'In many respects this is an outstanding book. It provides an invaluable source of published evidence for the treatment of patients with headache.'

There are two crucial issues in the treatment and management of headache patients: More than 50% of individuals experiencing headache have only been treated symptomatically, with no appropriate diagnosis established; and history and neurologic examination are essential to establishing a diagnosis, and thus selecting appropriate therapy. Headache and Migraine Biology and Management is a practical text that addresses these issues, featuring contributions from expert clinical authors. The book covers in detail topics including chronic and episodic migraine, post-traumatic headache, sinus headache, cluster headache, tension headache, and others. Chapters are also dedicated to treatment subjects, including psychiatric and psychological approaches, medication overuse, inpatient treatment, and pediatric issues. This book is an ideal resource for researchers and clinicians, uniting practical discussion of headache biology, current ideas on etiology, future research, and genetic significance and breakthroughs. This resource is useful to those who want to understand headache biology, treat and manage symptoms, and for those performing research in the headache field. A practical discussion of headache biology, current ideas on etiology, future research, and genetic significance and breakthroughs Features chapters from leading physicians and researchers in headache medicine Full-color text that includes both an overview of multiple disciplines and discusses the measures that can be used to treat headaches

Migraine treatment improved considerably with the advent of the 'triptans' in the 1990s. While the drugs used previously for headache treatment had efficacy, some compounds had bothersome side effects and their overuse could lead to severe complications. In the early days of the triptans, it was widely presumed that migraine was no longer a treatment problem. However, it has gradually been recognized that a significant proportion of patients are not responsive to triptans or do not tolerate them. It is now clear that, even with effective treatment, patients with frequent migraine attacks are not treated well exclusively with acute medications. This is partly because patients are still bothered by the attacks and partly because frequent intake of acute medication may result in medication-overuse headache. These problems have led to a renewed interest in preventive migraine drugs. Part of the Frontiers in Headache Research series, this book summarizes the several promising new avenues for the development of future drugs for the treatment of migraine, including cortical-spreading depression inhibition, nitric oxide synthase inhibition and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonism, as well as other potential targets. The book presents frontline knowledge of these evolving modalities as far as it is available in the public domain. It is hoped that readers and their patients will find it exciting to learn about all the novel possibilities, and also that the impressive research advances in migraine will lead to increased funding, not only of migraine but also of other types of headache.

With full revisions and updates, plus new chapters on herbs and vitamins, "triptans," headache during breast feeding, menstrual migraine, opiate abuse, cervicogenic causes of headache, and exercise and sexual headache, this book presents a full and in-depth range of information for primary care physicians and neurologists.