Headaches Basics
According to the National Headache Foundation (NHF), over 45 million Americans suffer from chronic, recurring headaches and of these, 28 million suffer from migraines. About 20% of children ages 5-17 (10.3 million) are dealing with chronic headaches. Approximately 15% of these kids experience tension-type headaches and 5% are coping with migraines.
Migraine is a serious condition that impacts our society. In the US, each year, it is estimated that time lost from work due to headache costs the nation up to $17 billion dollars in absenteeism, lost productivity and medical expenses.
What happens during a headache?
Nociceptors (the ends of the pain-sensitive nerves) are stimulated by stress, muscular tension, dilated blood vessels, and other headache triggers, and send a message to the nerve cells in the brain, signaling that a part of the body hurts.
Different chemicals help transmit pain-related information to the brain, including endorphins - natural painkilling proteins. It has been suggested that people who suffer from severe headaches, or other chronic pain, have lower levels of endorphins than people who are generally pain-free.