Headache

Abstract

Headache is familiar to virtually everyone. In a given year, at least 80 per cent of the population will suffer from headaches.^{1 , 2} About half of those afflicted will have headaches that are severe and disabling³; 10 to 20 per cent of the population will consult physicians with headache as their primary symptom.¹ Headache may be a manifestation of various general medical diseases or diseases affecting the nervous system and other structures of the head. In most instances, however, headache may be viewed as "primary" in that it is not a symptom of such conditions. The primary headache disorders constitute . . .