Already children suffer from headaches

People's symptom Headache: Physicians, researchers and experts are presenting new treatment approaches at the World Headache Congress in Berlin.

23/06/2011

80 percent of people in Germany suffer from recurrent mild, moderate to severe headaches. At the World Headache Congress in Berlin, new therapeutic approaches are discussed and presented. Striking: Already many young people suffer from migraine and headache seizures. Anyone who already has a mental illness is apparently more susceptible to chronic headaches.

Already teenagers suffer from headaches
Experts estimate that almost every German has had a headache before. The immediate triggers usually remain hidden and many combat the pain with tablets without researching the specific causes. Whereas in the past patients were affected above the age of 40, young people of school age are already suffering from recurring headaches. According to a scientific study, the case numbers should be roughly comparable to those of adults. According to researchers from Munich and Greifswald, four out of five students already suffer from occasional headaches.

At today's World Headache Congress in Berlin, doctors, researchers and experts will discuss the most common symptoms of all. In addition to prevention, it is important to fight against the underlying evil and the most effective form of pain relief. A timely intervention should also prevent a chronic course. The congress takes place from 23.6. until Sunday the 26.6. instead of. Over 1200 congress participants and lecturers have announced themselves.

Initiate educational programs already for the schools
Already in school, it is necessary to begin to prevent a chronic course. So said Professor dr. Andreas Straube from the University of Munich: „The prevention of headaches must start at school“. Over the past 40 years, the number of teenage headache patients has almost quadrupled. Girls are affected by boys in about two and a half times more often. Whether boys tend to keep the pain to themselves or a genetic factor is responsible is still unclear. However, it is clear that even minimal education programs are sufficient to educate young people about the risk of chronic headache. It is also important to highlight the different groups of headache variants, according to the results of a Norwegian study.

Further headache study planned with students
The headache expert now wants to underpin the studies already presented with its own investigation. For this purpose, a study project with Munich high school students will take place soon. The children and adolescents should be informed during lessons about the context of poor nutrition, lack of exercise, rhythm of life and headache. In particular, the expert is important to inform the students about the avoidance of stress. The demands on today's children are much higher than they were a few decades ago. In addition, the media influences are far more present than they were 10 years ago. But stress can also be music: „Anyone listening to MP3 players for more than an hour has a higher headache risk“, explains Straube. But it is also clear that endurance sports and active exercise minimize stress and thus reduce the risk of headaches. (80 percent of students suffer from headaches)

Depression promotes chronic course
Anyone who already suffers from the chronic form, according to a study of the University Hospital Essen has a generally altered perception of pain. This means that those affected perceive pain highly sensitized and the impulse overreacts. „The central processing systems are dysregulated“, explained Prof. Dr. med. med. Hans-Christoph Diener (University of Essen). Patients often suffer from hypersensitivity of the skin. Even minimal touches can trigger subjective pain in those affected.

Researchers from the Netherlands have found that patients suffering from mental illness, such as depression, are more susceptible to skin sensor hypersensitivity compared to non-depressives. The ratio is about twice as high according to researchers. This shows that headaches and migraines often lead to further background diseases in tow. These diseases must be treated at the same time in order to achieve holistic treatment success. The best treatment approach is the integrative, which includes relaxation methods, psychotherapy and exercise therapy.

Minimize migraine attacks with new drugs
Migraine is sometimes the worst form of headache. According to recent surveys, around ten percent of adults in Germany suffer from migraine attacks. According to experts, new therapeutic approaches could be available in a timely manner, although it is still unclear how and why migraine is developing. One approach is the active ingredient triptan, which is also injected without a needle by high pressure in the skin. Another pharmaceutical substance is dihydroergotamine, which in the future can be inhaled through the nose and mouth. This is to achieve better efficacy. Some studies have even found that the remedy „Botox“ with the active ingredient „Onabotulinumtoxin“ Relieve migraine pain. „Presumably, the pain signals are interrupted.“ Injections are placed at 31 different places of the head. The study authors claim that the attacks with Botox could be significantly reduced. However, other researchers saw little benefit and spoke of biased study data.

New therapeutic approaches against cluster headaches
At the headache congress in Berlin, new treatment approaches for the worst of all headaches will be presented, the so-called cluster headache. Prof. Arne May from the Institute for Systemic Neurosciences at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf will report on the latest results of a study in which the effect of a mini-stimulator was investigated. The stimulator is implanted in the patient's maxilla. If there are acute seizures, the patient can initiate stimulation of the nerve bundles via the mobile phone, which in turn should reduce the pain. May announced correspondingly positive results. The Headache World Congress will be held until Sunday.

In natural medicine, especially the recurrent grasp of pain medications is criticized. While most therapies provide pain relief, they do not take into account the triggering factors. In addition to homeopathy, relaxation techniques there are also home remedies for headache, which can be used at least for mild pain. (Sb)

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