Headache [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION: Headache is one of the most ancient and common afflic- tions of humanity. It is the symptom that most frequently leads patients to seek a physician's advice and to take medication. Its cost to society, in terms of consumption of medical re- sources, expense of medications, and loss of productivity, is staggering. In the United States, according to a 1986 survey, headache resulted in the loss of six hundred and thirty-eight million work days in that year alone. Its impact on the individu- al can be severe. While to most of us, headache is nothing but an occasional annoyance, to 1 in 10, headache is a frequent intruder that impairs enjoyment of life, relations with others, and ability to function. Not least disturbing to patient and phy- sician alike is the knowledge that headache is a treacherous symptom — while the overwhelming majority of people have their headaches on the basis of a benign "functional" distur- bance, a few have them as a symptom of dangerous disease. This book is a short practical guide to the physician in the front lines of medical practice who must manage these pa- tients with headaches. Its themes are: 1) that headache is a symptom that can be understood by applying a relatively few anatomic and physiologic principles, 2) that the diagnosis of headaches in most cases is straightforward, 3) that most headaches will respond to appropriate individualized therapy.