Headache

Abstract

From a dissertation read before the Society on February 4th, 1966.

Headache is a symptom which may be a feature of a wide range of conditions, arising not only with pathology in the head but also in cardio-vascular, renal, metabolic, orthopaedic and psychiatric conditions. It is extremely common, and usually transitory. Yet it may be a symptom of great significance in clinical practice. The underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The explanations of the cause of headaches have a long history, and it is on the aetiology of headache that this discussion will centre.

Headache can be a dramatic symptom and presumably has been ever since primitive man drank a fermented juice to excess and had his first hangover, or woke up with his first postconcussional headache to find that his wife had been kidnapped.