In this episode I explore the unbearable headache disorder that is cluster headache. The podcast revolves around the risk factors and causes of cluster headache, and the triggers for the attacks. It also reviews the characteristic features of the headache, and its typical accompanying cranial autonomic and behavioural symptoms.
I illustrate the agonising manifestations of cluster headache using such patient illness memoirs as those of John Niven titled O Brother, Howard fast titled Being Red, and Rafael Haussler titled You Can’t See What I Feel. These narratives illustrate the characteristic features of cluster headache, from its abrupt onset, its diurnal pattern, its severity, and its tendency to recur in clusters.
I also review the potential causes and familial tendency of cluster headache, its diverse triggers, and its impact on the lives of its sufferers. The podcast also covers the acute, transitional and preventative treatments of the disease which include the use of such interventions as triptans, oxygen, prednisolone, verapamil, and lithium.
Using Mervyn Eadie’s enlightening book titled Headache Through the Centuries, I narrate the history of its scientific understanding noting the contributions of physicians from Nicholas Tulp in the 16th century, to Wilfred Harris and Bayard Horton in the 19th century.
