Current pain and headache reports
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Fibromyalgia syndrome, a chronic condition typically characterized by widespread pain, nonrestorative sleep, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and other somatic symptoms, negatively impacts physical and emotional function and reduces quality of life. Exercise is commonly recommended in the management of people with fibromyalgia, and interest in examining exercise benefits for those with the syndrome has grown substantially over the past 25 years. ⋯ However, other forms of exercise (e.g., tai chi, yoga, Nordic walking, vibration techniques) and lifestyle physical activity also have been investigated to determine their effects. This paper highlights findings from recent randomized controlled trials and reviews of exercise for people with fibromyalgia, and includes information regarding factors that influence response and adherence to exercise to assist clinicians with exercise and physical activity prescription decision-making to optimize health and well-being.
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The relation between sex hormones and migraine has been examined in a series of studies, leading to the definitions of pure menstrual migraine and menstrually-related migraine. The relation between sex hormones and other types of primary headache has been studied less extensively, but there is at least some evidence that hormones in general, and menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause in particular, also impact these disorders. This article reviews the available literature on changes of tension-type headache, cluster headache, other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, and hemicrania continua during women's reproductive periods.
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Prevalence of headache lowers with age, and headaches of elderly adults tend to be different than those of the younger population. Secondary headaches, such as headaches associated with vascular disease, head trauma, and neoplasm, are more common. Also, certain headache types tend to be geriatric disorders, such as primary cough headache, hypnic headache, typical aura without headache, exploding head syndrome, and giant cell arteritis. This review provides an overview of some of the major and unusual geriatric headaches, both primary and secondary.
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About half of cancer patients experience pain, most commonly due to their primary cancer. Pain severity is at least moderate for most patients experiencing cancer-related pain. ⋯ Cancer-related pain adds to mood disturbance and disability in cancer patients. Despite the frequent occurrence and substantial impact from cancer pain, both patient and provider barriers limit the identification and treatment of pain in cancer patients.
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Headache is one of the most common symptoms in children and adolescents, and headache syndromes are an important reason for medical consulting. According to the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, there are 196 possible headache diagnoses, of which 113 have been described in pediatric population. ⋯ We group them as headaches with migraine features, short-duration headaches with autonomic features, short-duration headaches without autonomic features, and potentially ominous forms of headaches. Although rare as single entities, providers focusing on pediatric headaches certainly will face some of these headaches and need to be comfortable on the diagnostic approach.