When: annual, 21 March.
Cluster Headache Awareness Day is an annual day to draw attention to this neurological condition for which no cure has been found. The day takes place annually on March 21.
Horton's cephalalgia
Cluster headache (CH), also called Horton’s cephalalgia, is not just a headache. It is a neurological disorder. Although the condition was described as early as the 17th century, no cure has been found for it to date. Treatment of CH consists of symptom or pain management.
Cluster headache is a neurological condition characterised by recurrent, severe headache attacks. The pain is usually localised around one eye and may radiate to other head parts. The attacks can range from once every two days to eight times a day, generally lasting between 15 minutes and three hours.
Symptoms
The symptoms of cluster headache include unilateral pain, pain in one eye, radiating pain to the jaw, swelling in the affected eye, tears, runny or stuffy nose, redness on the affected eye and facial sweating. These symptoms can be very intense and lead to significant restrictions in daily life.
Incidentally, the symptoms can vary from person to person. Cluster headaches do occur more often in men than in women.
Cause
There is no identifiable cause for cluster headaches. It remains guesswork, for now. This is despite the amount of research that has been done on cluster headaches. However, there are theories about possible causes. For instance, changes in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain involved in regulating sleep and wakefulness, could play a role. Biological rhythms could also play a role.
Diagnosis
Because in some cases the symptoms are not always the same, some individuals take longer to be diagnosed. The diagnosis is usually made based on the frequency of seizures, the intensity of pain and the impact or severity of the seizures. This requires a neurological examination by a specialist. This includes additional investigations, such as taking one or more scans.
Establishing diagnosis
If cluster headache has been diagnosed by neurological examination, there may be two types of cluster headache.
- Episodic cluster headache.
- Chronic cluster headache.
Episodic cluster headache
This is the cluster headache that “meets” the characteristics described earlier, plus the times when the headache occurs. In clusters. After that, the patient does not suffer from headache attacks. How long these clusters last varies from person to person. Sometimes these clusters last for days or weeks, months, and sometimes years. So does the period between clusters. The name cluster headache comes from the accumulation of these recurrent headache attacks.
Chronic cluster headache
The information is based on the website of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) they are specialized in cluster headache research in The Netherlands.
Actually, in this case, you may speak of “headache.” Only this does not do justice to the type of headache, because then most people do not have the right image of that condition. It is still a cluster headache, only without interruption. The person in question experiences the condition without interruption(s). There is a chronic condition when the patient has several attacks per month, according to the website of the Headache Clinic of the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). This represents a group of about 15 per cent (2,000 people).
Treatment
Aan de onderstaande informatie kunnen geen rechten worden ontleend. Bespreek medische informatie altijd met medisch personeel. Het heeft geen zin om vragen hierover te stellen aan Artigenda.
There is no cure or solution for cluster headaches. This means that there is no cure. Therefore, treatment consists of pain control or prevention of cluster headache attacks. Treatments consist of:
- Oxygen therapy (treatment with 100% oxygen).
- Sumatriptan nasal sprays or injections.
The above treatments are attack treatments. In addition, there are treatments known as preventive treatments. These should prevent the attacks. However, there is no 100 per cent guarantee. Whether a treatment is successful or not will have to be proven and depends on the person in question.
- Verapamil.
- Topiramate or equivalent1.
- Lithium.
1: These are equivalent medicines that can be prescribed in consultation with a medical specialist.
Other treatments
LUMC additionally reports several other treatments. It is advisable to discuss these options with a medical specialist. More information is available via the LUMC website.
About this day
This day is an awareness day. Not everyone is familiar with cluster headaches. Many people are familiar with migraine, which is also a serious neurological condition. On March 21, it is all about those affected by this neurological condition, worldwide. It is also about their practitioners, who work daily to treat the patients. It is also about the scientists, who are engaged in the necessary research. So that one day a solution to cluster headaches can be found.
It is also a day to reflect on the consequences. What does all this do to individuals and their immediate surroundings? What impact does it have on family members and friends? On work and hobbies. What is possible or, rather, what is no longer possible? How life can change dramatically. How lives can turn into a small drama. Slowly, day by day.
Not only in The Netherlands
Perhaps you got the idea, because mention was made of Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), that this was a Dutch special day. It is not. It is about an international day. Information about it can be found via the International Headache Society.
De dag is niet alleen bekend in Nederland, want de Engelse naam voor deze dag is Cluster Headache Awareness Day.
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