警惕嚴重頭痛的危害

Chi Mei HospitalNeurologyDr. Lin Gaozhang, the attending physician, said that migraines are usually related to internal constitution, and are triggered by external factors, so the chance of finding a brain lesion is not high. However, some severe, even life-threatening headaches still require vigilance.
① The characteristics of the headache suddenly change: for example, the headache becomes more frequent or more severe than before.
② Any sudden headache: explosive pain, unbearable pain, pain you've never experienced before. This could be a ruptured aneurysm causing subarachnoid hemorrhage, or a torn blood vessel. You should go to the emergency room immediately.
③ Headaches upon waking up in the middle of the night or in the morning: This could be a brain tumor or high blood pressure.
④ Headache accompanied by double vision (multiple images appearing), limb weakness or numbness: This may be a stroke or brain tumor, and you should go to the emergency room immediately.
⑤ Headache accompanied by fever and neck stiffness: This may be meningitis.
⑥ Headache combined with altered mental status: encephalitis,brain tumorOr epilepsy.
⑦ Headache and sudden vision loss: This may be glaucoma or a ruptured aneurysm. You should go to the emergency room immediately.
⑧ Headaches caused by taking birth control pills: This may be due to autoimmune disease or vasculitis.
9. Pain following a head injury (such as a fall and hitting your head, or a car accident): This could be a subdural hematoma. This type of headache may not occur immediately after the injury; it may appear weeks or even months later.
Dr. Lin Chih-ming, attending physician of the Department of Neurology at Changhua Christian Hospital, reminds the elderly to be especially careful about headaches, as they may be a sign of life-threatening diseases such as stroke or ruptured aneurysm, or an autoimmune disease such as temporal arteritis.
Brain tumors usually present with more than just headaches.
Many people suspect they have a brain tumor when they have a headache. "Generally, headaches are rarely caused by brain tumors. However, about half of brain tumor patients experience headaches," said Wang Shu-jun, director of the Neuromedicine Center at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
Headaches in brain tumor patients often present with the following symptoms:
● It resembles a tight, dull headache. A few people may experience sudden, severe pain.
● Frequently wake up in pain during sleep, vomit, or experience headaches due to coughing or straining.
●Headache accompanied by other neurological symptoms: such as weakness in the hands and feet, and abnormal sensations.
●Aneurysm: An arterial wall that bulges out in a balloon-like shape due to uneven pressure from the constant flow of blood. It can grow in arteries throughout the body, but is most common in the brain, chest, and abdomen, especially at bends in the blood vessels.
● Arachnoid mater and dura mater: The meninges protect the soft brain tissue and can be divided into three layers from the outside to the inside: the dura mater, the arachnoid mater, and the pia mater (see the diagram above).
●Temporal arteritis: The temporal artery is located near the temple. In patients with temporal arteritis, the temporal artery will be significantly swollen, causing a persistent pain that feels like it is being squeezed and has a throbbing sensation. In severe cases, it may lead to blindness.
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*Editor's Note: This article was published in 2018. The background information on the people, events, and things mentioned in the article may have been adjusted or changed since then. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
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