Headache: The Most Common Complaints.

Headache: The Most Common Complaints

Spierings EL. Newton, MA 02158-1626, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1998, paperback, 236 pp, illus, $25.

This book supplies the health care provider with a concise overview of headaches. It is structured around case studies that help facilitate recognition of the headache conditions discussed. This approach is practical and draws heavily on the author's experience in treating and diagnosing patients with headache. The text is divided into 3 major parts: acute headache, subacute headache, and chronic headache. Each section uses tables and illustrations to give useful information on drugs and when to use them.

Part 1 of the book addresses the acute headache, defined as a headache that has been present for hours to days. The clinical approach and treatment of the headache are addressed along with the success rate of medications. Meningitis, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and hypertensive encephalopathy are addressed in this section. Each chapter deals with the various types of headaches in clear and concise terms. The author sums up his personal approach to the acute headache at the end of the section.

Part 2 addresses the subacute headache, defined as a headache that has-been present for days or weeks. The major areas addressed in part 2 are cerebral tumor, pseudotumor cerebri, opthalmic zoster, temporal arteritis, and subdural hematoma.

The final part addresses the chronic headache, which lasts from months to years. This part has chapters addressing tension headaches, migraines, cluster headaches, paroxysmal hemicrania, idiopathic stabbing headache, and hemicrania continua. Most of the treatment recommendations concern various allopathic medications; however, this abbreviated text does not mention musculoskeletal and alternative treatments.

The text is well organized and has an abbreviated format. The book's principal audience is physicians, but the text can be a valuable aid to other health care professionals who will see how headache is modulated with medicine. At the end of each chapter, there are a variety of further references for further research. The overall brevity of the book and each chapter lends itself to a simple overview of the treatment of each type of headache.

Joseph A Kleinkort, PhD, PT Worksteps Inc Irving; Tex

Dr Kleinkort is Chief Operating Officer of Worksteps Inc and Senior Rehabilitation Consultant at Lockheed Martin in Ft Worth, Tex.