THE ESSENTIAL
- Cluster headache is relatively rare and affects approximately 4 in every 1,000 people in the United States, according to the MSD Manual.
- Cluster headache usually begins between the ages of 20 and 40.
From 15 minutes to 3 hours, this is the maximum duration of an attack of cluster headache, also called cluster headache. This rare condition is characterized by sharp, one-sided headaches often accompanied by nasal congestion or runny nose and sometimes drooping of the eyelid, tearing and facial blushed. According to MSD Manual“headaches usually occur over a period of 1 to 3 months, followed by a headache-free period of several months or years”.
Cluster headache underdiagnosed in women
Cluster headache has been described as a male-dominated disease. But, according to two studies published in the journal Neurology, women affected by this pathology are more affected than men by the symptoms in their daily lives. The periods of pain would thus be longer, more frequent. They would also take more medication and would be on sick leave more often for this reason.
“Often, cluster headache is still misdiagnosed in women, perhaps because some aspects may be similar to migraine, Explain Andrea Carmine Belin, author of these works. Physicians need to be aware of how the disorder manifests differently in men and women so that the most effective treatment can be administered as quickly as possible.”. Indeed, there would be three to five times more diagnoses of this disease in men than in women.
To measure the gender difference, the researchers looked at data from 874 participants with cluster headaches. They all had to complete a questionnaire about their lifestyle, symptoms and treatments. Thus, twice as many women had the chronic variant of this disease, which means that they had less than three months in the year without symptoms. “Men and women report the same level of pain, but since women’s periods of pain tend to last longer, their daily lives are also more impacted.“, develops Andrea Carmine Belin.
Women have more cluster headache symptoms
The scientists also discovered that women had more symptoms than men: droopy eyelids (61% versus 47%), restlessness (54% versus 46%), sleep disturbances, nocturnal seizures. Finally, 15% of women, against only 7% of men, had a parent who also suffered from cluster headache.
“It is difficult to say what is driving these differences, but what we find is that women (…) tend to have a more severe variant of the disease and it’s time to stop thinking of cluster headache as being male-dominated”, says Caroline Ranresearch specialist at the Department of Neurosciences at the Karolinska Institutet.
Another difference between the two sexes: many women with cluster headache also had at least one other disease. Thus, 96% of women among the 3,240 patients suffering from cluster headache in Sweden in 2010 had at least one other pathology diagnosed, compared to 90% among men. Women also took more days off and took more early retirement.
“What is striking is that almost all women with cluster headaches have a comorbidity, which reinforces the idea that these women suffer severelyexplains Christina Sjöstrand, one of the authors of the study. We assume this affects their ability to work and it is important for the good of the individual and society that they are helped in the form of treatment (…), monitoring and support“.