Headache disorders can be painful and debilitating and have a myriad of causes, from anxiety to overuse of medications such as painkillers. Now a large-scale review has shown how common such situations are. “Headaches are really, very common disorders, [and] “It’s very common in all countries – although there may be differences,” said Professor Lars Jacob Stovner, lead author of the research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Stovner and colleagues identified 357 papers published from 1961 to the end of 2020. While they covered different countries, different time periods, and often used different approaches, the team was able to analyze the data to investigate the prevalence of headache disorders. worldwide. The results, published in the Journal of Headache and Pain, suggest that more than half of the world’s population – 52% – has an active headache disorder, commonly described as experiencing some type of headache over the past year. Further analysis revealed that just under 16% of people worldwide had a headache every day. While many of the studies did not report the type of headache involved, those reported that about 7% of the world’s population develops migraines every day and almost 9% experience tension-type headaches. The review also found that the prevalence of headache disorders varied by gender, with 17% of women being affected by migraines in a given year, compared with 8.6% of men. Headaches for 15 or more days a month were also much more common in women. Stovner said the overall findings were in line with previous estimates of headache prevalence, including the Global Burden of Disease study. However, the study shows that migraines may have become more common since the team’s last review in 2007 – a finding the authors note is not convincing, as it may be due to factors such as more sensitive diagnostic questionnaires. They add that the obvious differences between countries are also figurative as the findings may depend on how the studies are conducted. Stovner’s team had previously revealed that migraines were the leading cause of disability for people under the age of 50. “Many other body aches and pains increase as we approach retirement. “But migraines and headaches are more common in the more active years,” said Stovner, who works with the Global Headache Campaign. Stovner added that headache disorders can be caused by many factors, from a person’s genetics to stress, sleep problems and drug overdose, adding that options are available for both preventing and treating headache disorders. when they appear. “This is something that health services need to take seriously. “We need to inform the public, the decision-makers, the health services… about this very big public health problem,” he said. Peter Goadsby, a professor of neurology at King’s College London and a migraine specialist who did not take part in the study, said conditions such as migraines were disabling and horrible for those experiencing them, adding that there was no need for more headache recognition but action. “We need more treatments and, frankly, Europe just needs the treatments that are now available in the US for a start,” he said, adding that research is also needed. “Research board investment is sad and embarrassing when you think it’s migraines [are] a good portion of today’s taxpayers. “
