It is difficult to give a specific definition of headache. It is said to be a type of pain or aching sensation, which can be in and around the head. Since it affects all people, it is not a serious disease in most cases. However, some headaches are said to be symptoms or indicators of some serious disease.
The World Headache Society divides headaches into two categories.
Primary Headache: About 90 percent of headaches are primary headaches. These do not indicate any serious disease.
Secondary headache: It indicates a serious disease in the head, neck or any other part of the body. It accounts for 10 percent of all headaches. 1 percent of headaches are caused by brain tumors. Just as it is important for a doctor to know if there are any bad signs or red flag signs in a patient, so it is important for headache sufferers to have some idea.
Bad symptoms are as follows
-Any headache first occurs at age 50 or older.
-Headache increasing over time. This means that the number and intensity of the headache has increased significantly day by day since the onset of the headache. For example, this is seen in brain tumors. In addition to brain tumors, TB can present as meningitis, sarcoidosis, lymphoma or other malignancies or metastases.
-Have heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, diabetes or blood vessel problems – Sudden severe headache in such patients indicates stroke, sub-arachnoid haemorrhage etc.
-Fever with severe headache, rash, great weakness, stiff neck.
-Headache accompanied by incoherence in behavior, movement or speech leading to fainting.
-Severe headache for the first time in life which goes to maximum intensity within seconds. This is called a thunderclap headache.
-Headache after head injury.
-Headaches may occur during pregnancy or post-pregnancy.
What to Do
If you find that headaches are causing you to lose your normal functioning, are recurring despite adequate measures or any of the above mentioned red flag signs or bad symptoms are visible, then it is very important to consult an experienced doctor.
