Cluster Headache Treatment

Cluster headaches are also common during pregnancy. This is because of certain hormones generated at time, circulation of increased blood and fluctuations in estrogen levels. But this not the only cause, but tends to occur in the fist and trird trimesters. On the trimester hormonal changes, posture and weight gain of the pregnant woman. Other conditions of this headache can cause preeclampsia and high blood pressure during pregnancy.

Prevention is the best course of action to avoid headaches during pregnancy. Familiarize healthy lifestyle with adequate exercise, a balanced diet and plenty of rest and relaxation is a wise move.

Cluster headache diagnosis is made by taking the patients history. The description of pain and hour relapse is ussually sufficient to make the diagnosis.If examined in the midst of an attack, the patient is usually in a painful crisis and may have runny eyes and nose. If the patient in seen when the pain does not exist, normal physical examination and diagnsis depends on history.

Cluster headache may be very difficult to treat, and it may take trial and error to find a specific treadment regimen that will work to very patient. Due to recurring headaches every day, there are two maintenance requirements. The pain of the fist episode needs to be controlled, and headache following must be prevented.

Treatment in episodic cluster headache severity and frekuency of pain. Treatment is generally of two kinds. Treatment is usually an on going treatment.  While the secon is based on the need to stop the headache attacks as they arise. Some precautions can be taken at home to prevent cluster headaches

Therapy for the treatment of ckuster headache

There is not treatment to cure cluster headache. The goal of treatment is to help decrease the severity of pain and shorten the term of the ettack. Drugs that are used for cluster headache can be devided into drugs symptomatic and propylatic. Symptomatic drugs aimed at stopping or reducing pain after a cluster headache attack, wherease drugs are used prophylactically to reducea exacerbation frequency and intensity of headache.

Because this type of headache is increasing rapidly symptomatic traetment should have the nature of work quickly and can be supplied immediately, usually using injections or inhalers rather than tamblets orally.

The Symptomatic treatment incluiding :

1.  Oxygen. Inhaling 100%oxygen through a face shield with a capacity of 7 liters/min give good recovery in 50 to 90% of people who use it. Sometimes a large amount can be more effective. The effect of its use is relatively safe, inexpensive, and the effect can be felt after about 15 minutes. The main disadvantage of this is the use of oxygen patients should carry oxygen cylinders and regulators, making the treatment in this way become uncofortable and can be accessed at any time. Sometimes oxygen might only delay rather than stop the attack and the pain will return.
2. Sumatriptan. Injection drug commonly used to treat migraine, also effectively used in cluster headache. Some peple benefit from the use of sumatriptan in the form of nasal spray, but more research is still needed to determine its effectiveness.
3. Ergotamine. The ergot alkaloids cause vasocontriction in smooth muscles in the blood vessels of the brain. Availabe in theform of injections and inhalers, the use of intravenous works faster than the dose inhalers should be limited to prevent the occurrence of side effects, specially nausea, and cautiously in patients with a history of hipertension.
4. Medications local anesthesia. Local anesthetics stabilize the nerve so that the nerve cell membranes become less permeable to ions. This prevents the formation and conduction of nerve impluses, causing a local anesthetic effect. Lidocaine intra-nasal can be used effectively in cluster headache attacks. But must be careful when used in patients with hypoxia, respiratory depression, or bradycardia.

The next step for the prevention of cluster headache is as :

1. Calcium channel blockers (eg, verapamil,[calan, verelan, verelan PM, isoptin, covera HS], diltiazem [cardizem, dilacor, tiazac])
2. Predinose (deltasone, liquid pred)
3. Anti -depressant
4. Lithium(eskalith, lithobid)
5. Anti-seizure medicine, including valproic acid, divalproex (depakote, depakote ER, depaken, depacon)and topiramate.

 SURGERY

Surgery is recommended in people with chronic cluster headache that does not respond well to medication or in those who have contraindications to the medications used. Someone who will undergo surgery just expeiriencing an attack on one side of the fist just because this operation can only be done once. People who experienced the attack moved from one side to the other at risk of failure.

There are several types of surgery that can be done to treat cluster headache. The procedure is done is damaging the nerve pathways responsible for the pain.

Nerve block invasive neurosurgical procedures or non-invansive (eg radio frekuency pericutaneus, gangliorhizolisis trigeminal, rhizotomi) has been proven to successfully treat cluster headache. However, side effects such diastesia occur on the face, sensory loss in the cornea and anesthesia dolorosa.

Surgery using gamma rays are now more commonly used becaused it is less invansive. Newand promising methodes is a stimulating electrode implantation using the guide stereostatik in the inferior part of the hypothalamus. Research shows that stimulation of the hypothalamus in patients with severe cluster headache provide complete cure and no significant side effects.

 Lifestyle changes can help reduce the risk of flame cluster headache. Stop smoking and reduce alcohol can prevent cluster headache.