Cluster Headache, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Cluster Headache, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Cluster headaches are severely painful headaches that happen in clusters.
The patient feels cycles of headache attacks, accompanied by headache-free periods.
The incidence of the headaches during these cycles may vary from one headache every other day to several headaches per day.
The pain from cluster headaches can be very severe.
The patient gets a cluster headache when a specific nerve pathway in the base of the brain is activated.
That nerve sensation appears to come from a deeper part of the brain called the hypothalamus, where the "internal biological clock" that controls the sleep and wake cycles lives.
The nerve that is involved, the trigeminal nerve, is accountable for sensations such as heat or pain in the face.
It branches up to the forehead, near the eye, across the cheek, down the jaw line, and above the ear on the same side, too.
An underlying brain disorder, such as a tumor or aneurysm, will not produce these headaches.
There are a few features that distinguish this type of headache.
1. Speed: Cluster headaches normally attain their full force quickly within 5 or 10 minutes.
2. Pain: It is almost always one-sided, and it stays on the same side during a period, the time when the patient is getting daily attacks.
(When a new headache period starts, it might change to the opposite side, but that is infrequent.)
It is often depicted as having a burning or piercing quality.
It may be throbbing or constant.
The patient will sense it behind or around one eye.
It may extend to the forehead, temple, nose, cheek, or upper gum on that side.
The scalp may be tender.
The patient can often sense the blood pulsing.
3. Short duration: Cluster headaches normally only persist 30 to 90 minutes.
They can be as short as 15 minutes or as prolonged as 3 hours but then they disappear.
The patient can probably acquire one to three of these headaches a day.
Some people have as few as one every other day, while others get them up to 8 times a day.
4. Predictable: Attacks appear to be linked to the circadian rhythm, the body's 24-hour clock.
They happen so regularly, normally at the same time each day that they have been called "alarm clock headaches."
They might even wake the patient up an hour or two after the patient goes to sleep.
Nighttime attacks can be more serious than the daytime ones.
5. Frequent: Most people will acquire daily headaches for 2 weeks to 3 months; in between these periods, they will be pain-free for at least 2 weeks.
There are 2 types of cluster headaches
1. Episodic cluster headaches occur regularly between one week and one year, followed by a headache-free period of one month or more.
2. Chronic cluster headaches occur regularly for longer than one year, followed by a headache-free period that lasts for less than one month.
A person who has episodic cluster headaches may develop chronic cluster headaches and vice versa.
The pain from cluster headaches is produced by the dilation, or widening, of the blood vessels that provide blood to the brain and face.
This dilation gives rise to pressure to the trigeminal nerve which passes the sensations from the face to the brain.

Pharmacologic treatment of cluster headache (CH) may be categorized into 2 treatments of cluster headaches :
1. Abortive/symptomatic (e.g., oxygen, triptans, ergot alkaloids, and anesthetics)
2. Preventive/prophylactic (e.g., calcium channel blockers, mood stabilizers, and anticonvulsants)

Galcanezumab is the first drug to gain FDA approval to treat cluster headache
In 2017 the FDA approved a hand-held device to treat cluster headaches by vagus nerve stimulation.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Cluster Headache
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
C

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Dec 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463553824

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Cluster Headache,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2019 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Cluster Headache, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Cluster Headache)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Cluster Headache

What Are Cluster Headaches?

Cluster headaches are severely painful headaches that happen in clusters.

The patient feels cycles of headache attacks, accompanied by headache-free periods.

The incidence of the headaches during these cycles may vary from one headache every other day to several headaches per day.

The pain from cluster headaches can be very severe.

Pathophysiology

The patient gets a cluster headache when a specific nerve pathway in the base of the brain is activated.

That nerve sensation appears to come from a deeper part of the brain called the hypothalamus, where the internal biological clock that controls the sleep and wake cycles lives.

The nerve that is involved, the trigeminal nerve, is accountable for sensations such as heat or pain in the face.

It branches up to the forehead, near the eye, across the cheek, down the jaw line, and above the ear on the same side, too.

An underlying brain disorder, such as a tumor or aneurysm, will not produce these headaches.

Characteristics of Cluster Headaches

There are a few features that distinguish this type of headache.

They are:

1. Speed: Cluster headaches normally attain their full force quickly within 5 or 10 minutes.

2. Pain: It is almost always one-sided, and it stays on the same side during a period, the time when the patient is getting daily attacks.

(When a new headache period starts, it might change to the opposite side, but that is infrequent.)

It is often depicted as having a burning or piercing quality.

It may be throbbing or constant.

The patient will sense it behind or around one eye.

It may extend to the forehead, temple, nose, cheek, or upper gum on that side.

The scalp may be tender.

The patient can often sense