Although cluster headaches are more common in men than women, a new study suggests the disorder may be more severe in women. The study is published in the December 21, 2022 online issue of Neurology®the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Cluster headaches are short but extremely painful headaches that can occur for days or even weeks in a row. The headaches can last from 15 minutes to three hours.
“Cluster headaches are still often misdiagnosed in women, perhaps because some aspects may be migraine-like,” said study author Andrea C. Belin, PhD, of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. , in Sweden. “It’s important for doctors to know how the disorder manifests differently in men and women so that the most effective treatment can be given as quickly as possible.”
The study looked at 874 people with a diagnosis of cluster headache, 66% of whom were men and 34% women.
Participants answered a detailed questionnaire regarding their symptoms, medications, headache triggers and lifestyle habits.
Women were more likely to be diagnosed with chronic cluster headaches than men. Chronic cluster headache is defined as recurrent attacks of cluster headache for a year or more without interruption, or with short symptomless interruptions lasting less than three months. Eighteen percent of women were diagnosed with chronic cluster headache, compared to 9% of men.
The attacks also lasted longer for women than for men. For example, 8% of women said headache episodes lasted an average of four to seven months, compared to 5% of men, while 26% of women said episodes lasted less than a month on average. , compared to 30% of men.
Women were also more likely than men to report that their seizures occurred at different times of the day, 74% to 63%. Women were more likely to have a family member with a history of cluster headache, 15% to 7%.
“Although the ratio of men to women with cluster headaches has changed over the years, it is still considered a predominantly male disorder, making it more difficult for women with milder symptoms to be diagnosed. with cluster headache than men,” Belin said. “It’s possible that this contributes to the higher rate of chronic cluster headaches in women.”
A limitation of the study was that the information was self-reported, so they might not remember everything correctly.
The study was supported by the Swedish Brain Foundation, the Mellby Gård Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the Stockholm region and the Karolinska Institutet.
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Material provided by American Academy of Neurology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.