Suppl 1 S9 Florida National University Cluster H

Cluster headache is a neurotological disorder that presents with relatively short but very painful headaches that occur in clusters. The headaches usually affect one side of the head, including the area around the eye. People often confuse cluster headaches for allergies or work-related stress since they occur at the same time of the year, for example during fall or spring. A typical cluster headache lasts for 15 to 180 minutes and can occur up to 8 times a day (Wei, 2018). The general prevalence of the disorder in the population is 0.1%. Males are argued to be more likely to develop the disorder than females. The risk factors for cluster headache include belonging to the male gender, having 30 years and above, smoking, alcohols use, trauma, and family history. It has been shown that 85% of cluster headache patients are cigarette smokers (Kandel & Mandiga, 2020). The family history increases the chances to develop cluster headache by a record 18 times.

Treatment of cluster headache involves the use of therapy that is best for the patient. In the case of Richard, the main goal of therapy will be to decrease the severity of pain since the patient gets excruciating pain, which lasts for about one and half hours every day for the four weeks. As Kingston & Dodick (2018) put it, preventive therapy can be applied to help a cluster headache patient like Richard to witness less severe cluster attacks as he heads to better recovery. Another goal of therapy will be to reduce the frequency and the period of attack. It has been shown that the frequency of cluster attacks can be reduced by over 77% and can be shortened to less than 15 mins (Kingston & Dodick, 2018). The therapy will be also aimed at reducing the symptoms experienced by the patient (Mayo Clinic, n.d). Some of the symptoms experienced by Richard are one-sided headache, nasal congestion, and excessive eye tearing. I will therefore purpose to treat these symptoms to make the patient relieved.

References

Kandel, S. A., & Mandiga P. (2021). Cluster Headache. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls

Publishing.

Kingston, W. S., & Dodick, D. W. (2018). Treatment of Cluster Headache. Annals of Indian

Academy of Neurology, 21(Suppl 1), S9–S15. https://doi.org/10.4103/aian.AIAN_17_18

Mayo Clinic, (n.d). Cluster Headache. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cluster-

headache/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352084

Wei, D. Y., Yuan Ong, J. J., & Goadsby, P. J. (2018). Cluster Headache: Epidemiology,

Pathophysiology, Clinical Features, and Diagnosis. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 21(Suppl 1), S3–S8. https://doi.org/10.4103/aian.AIAN_349_17