European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse By the associated press for years they suffered in silence. Doubting the reality of their pain even As it assaulted them. Misunderstood even mocked. Dee Underwood would feign Good health and drive her children to a party collapsing at each stoplight along the Way her vision blurred by pain. Nancy Ginn Almond would discreetly slip away from her dinner guests to vomit then resume the role of Model hostess. A a a. A a. A. A a. A a a a a a a a a a a Quot. A. A Louise Woodard stricken each week would keep quiet rather than risk being labelled a Quot chronic an estimated 45 million to 50 million american men and women suffer from chronic headaches that can torment them for Days or weeks at a time. Yet victims say their pain often is misunderstood and belittled a by family and friends employers even doctors. Many suffer in silence rather than acknowledge a condition that so often is the butt of jokes the convenient excuse to skip work school or sex. Others come to doubt themselves to question the. Reality of their pain Quot i got to thinking that i must be emotionally causing it to happen or that the pain really Wasny to there Quot said Underwood 44i who started getting headaches in her 20s. Quot i can look Back now and say a i Wasny to wrong i was t crazy but it knocked me Down to some degree a said 46-year-old Sharon Miller whose headaches started in her teens. Or. Seymour Solomon director of. The Montefiore medical Center headache unit in new York said headaches Are so common that Many people Quot think it is part of the Cross they have to a Quot we see Many patients who have been told by their doctor look you done to have a brain tumor you re not going to die. You be got to learn to live with it Quot a or. Joel Saper director of the Michigan head pain and neurological Institute in Ann Arbor said 70 percent of american households include at least one person who has headaches. A Survey published in the journal of american medical association in april 1989 found that 57 percent of men and 77 percent of women reported a significant headache within the past month. S experts say that while there is no cure there Are treatments that can dramatically reduce the frequency of headaches and shorten them once they get started. A headache sufferers Quot Don t have to learn to live with it Quot Solomon said. Concern about headache misconceptions and. Mistreatment led to the creation last year of a National support group known As ache a the american Council for headache education. The non profit group based in West Deptford n.j., is sponsored by the american a association for the study of headache a professional society made up of headache specialists and researchers. Another non profit group that works to increase understanding of headaches is the National headache foundation founded in 1970 and based in Chicago. Both groups financed by. Contributions from the Public doctors and corporate donors including drug companies publish newsletters and brochures operate information. Hot lines and sponsor Public education programs. Suzanne Simons the headache foundation s director for administration and development said her organization hears often from frustrated sufferers who have gone from one doctor to another without getting help. Quot they go to the allergist the dentist the nutritionist they go to a chiropractors an Eye doctor they go everywhere a she said. Each doctor May give a different reason for their headaches she said. I desperate for Relief victims May Latch on to treatments that Are inappropriate ranging from vitamins and psychotherapy to nose alignments and Back surgery. Many sufferers Over medicate themselves which can cause even More headaches experts say. Another overused treatment according to some doctors is surgery to the jaw s Temporo Mandibular joint or Pmj. Joseph Cowden a 54-year-old prison guard from Philadelphia said he was prescribed medicines Quot from a to a a a Quot and told to have Back surgery before a specialist last year taught him to control his Quot Cluster Quot headaches with drugs and exercise. ��.�, a a a after years of enduring Quot the most excruciating pain you. Could Ever imagine Quot Cowden says the last 10 months have been the Best he a Ever had. Ache categorizes headaches a excluding those that Are a symptom of some other medical problem a into four main groups migraines which afflict mainly women chronic daily headaches tension Type headaches and Cluster headaches which affect mostly men. About 18 percent of women and 6 percent of men. Have migraine within the past year according to or. Richard Lipton of the Montefiore headache unit one third of those migraines were so disabling that sufferers missed work or school and another third said their Job performance was impaired. Lipton said people with occasional mild head pain Don t always recognize that others May be suffering from intense debilitating attacks. Quot its very important to emphasize that although almost everyone gets some headaches some kinds of. Headaches Are a lot More disabling than others Quot he said a Solomon vice chairman of ache said that while people a can Quot ride out Quot an occasional headache people who have serious pain More than once or twice a month should seek a doctors help. One of the first Steps is to determine if the pain is being caused by some other health problem a headaches can be a symptom of hundreds of other illnesses such As infections or tutors doctors say. Where the headache itself is the illness treatment generally involves a mix of medication and non drug therapies such As relaxation techniques diet restrict outs a and coping therapies. Or. Neil Raskin a professor at the a a. A a a. A a. A a. A a a a. A University of California san Francisco said treatments Are emerging As drug companies belatedly recognize the huge Market and doctors get More interested in the problem. Stress eating certain foods even changes in the weather May trigger some headaches but the underlying causes Are More Complex they say often the problem is inherited. A Quot in the past doctors tended to think of headaches As psychological or psychosomatic but i think that attitude is changing Quot said or. Sey Priour Diamond executive director of the headache foundation. Saper cautioned however that Many doctors still hold to traditional ideas that Quot tense minds tense Muscles and throbbing arteries cause headaches when in fact it s a far neurological w Saper who Heads the american association for the study of headache blames the Quot years and years of a prejudice and neglect Quot directed at headache sufferers in part on the fact that most victims Are women. , a 61-year-old writer from Dallas said her Long ordeal with headaches left her so distressed she went to bed one Day in 1988 and told her husband Quot i did t know whether i was Ever going to get up Quot. That a when he found her a specialist who developed a regimen of drugs and diet that worked. Quot i feel like a reformed alcoholic or a born again Christian Quot she said. Nancy. Ginn Almond who edits aches quarterly newsletter from Columbia mo., said she still gets a. Quot major league Quot headache once every few months. But at 51, she now knows her headaches Aren t Quot a figment of my imagination Quot and can be controlled a message she wants to share with other sufferers. Editor s note the National headache foundation s toll tree hot line is 800 843-2256 outside Illinois and 800 523-8858 within Illinois. Ache s toll free hot Lino is 800 255-ache. A a. Types of headaches Here Are descriptions of four main types of headaches not including those that Are a symptom of some other medical problem. The information was provided by ache the american Council for headache education. A amps Susan Harris it migraines characterized by recurrent pain on one or both sides of the head usually accompanied by nausea vomiting difficulty looking Quot at Bright Light and sensitivity to noise. Doctors estimate 26 million americans have migraines 2 million of whom Are children. Migraines hit boys and girls in equal numbers but 75 percent of adult patients Are women. Migraines Are believed to be a biological disorder of the Central nervous system especially of the brain. They May be triggered by stress hormonal changes certain foods changes in sleep or eating patterns and weather and temperature fluctuations. Tension Type headaches they Are often described As a tight squeezing vice like pain around the Back of the neck Scalp and forehead. They can be occasional or very to popular perceptions research shows no direct correlation Between this Type of headache and emotional or muscle tension. However a majority of chronic headache patients show some degree of muscular tension and tenderness especially in the chronic daily headaches patients with migraines tend to get less severe headaches Between major attacks. These interim headaches May come More frequently As time progresses eventually occurring daily. Some Are severe and include nausea and vomiting others Are mild and nagging. Most chronic daily headaches Are considered part of chronic migraine syndrome. Cluster headaches they Are always Felt on one Side of the head usually in and around the Eye. The pain is so severe some sufferers have been known to consider suicide during attacks. Cluster headaches last about 30-45 minute Sand May occur several times a Day. They come in clusters that May last for three to four months followed by Long Breaks that can last for months or even years. They Are relatively rare compared to other types of headaches afflicting 500,000 to 2 million americans mostly men. Sufferers tend to be heavy cigarette smokers. They Are extremely sensitive to alcohol which May bring on headache about twit types of diabetes by Mary Maushard Baltimore evening Sun d i abates is a chronic Cli Scase iat Alfonts the production or use of insulin a hormone the body needs to break Down food and turn it into glucose the body s a a fuel Ltd a a a a a. A a. A there Are two typos of diabetes affecting nearly 14 million people in the United states Type 1, or juvenile diabetes is the More serious disorder because it generally causes the body to Stop producing insulin Type i diabetes often. Affects Young people and almost always occurs Booie a. Pc son is 40. People with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to control the disease. A Type 2, or adult Onset diabetes affects older and often overweight people and is the More a common of the two types it affects the body s use rather than its production of. Insulin and can usually to controlled with diet and exercise a the causes of diabetes Are still unknown though it has genetic ties and in Young people is often triggered by a viral infection the symptoms of juvenile diabetes Are an almost insatiable thirst frequent urination weight loss hunger vision problems and changes in personality or school performance. In children the symptoms show themselves Quot quite in the development of the disease said or Bruce so dlr a Baltimore physician who treats Many patients with diabetes. The most typical ago a for a child to develop diabetes is 10 to 12, he said there Are about 1 million youngsters in Tho a states with Juno file diabetes. People with adult Onset diabetes May have the a same symptoms but. They appear More gradually and can often be masked in daily routines said Treva Zyna of the Maryland affiliate of the Amon an. Diabetes association. For that reason about half of the people with this disease do not know it. People who believe they May have diabetes should see a information is available from the american diabetes association 800 232-3472. A newsletter offers advice for diabetic travellers the diabetic traveler is a quarterly newsletter for people with diabetes who want to Start or continue travelling. Each Issue focuses on a specific destination and provides tips for enjoying a country or Region without a compromising health needs. Among the advice is How to adjust insulin intake for air travel what to include in a medical history and what kinds of food and weather to expect. Maury Rosenbaum who has had insulin dependent diabetes for 15 years and who has also worked in the Travoy Industry edits the a one year s subscription costs $15. Back copies covering destinations such As Hawaii Tokyo Spain and san Francisco Are available for $3 each write the diabetic traveler Box 8223 re Stamford Conn. 06905. Tuesday april 30, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15
