Headache in the elderly

Abstract

Most of the Headaches in the elderly are primary headache such as migraine and tension-type headache which the elderly has suffered from since younger age. Although the prevalence of headache decreases in the elderly, certain types of headaches, for example giant cell arteritis or hypnic headache, are more prevalent in the elderly. If the pattern of the headache changes or there is a newly developed headache, the odds of secondary headache such as headache due to neoplasm and vascular intracranial disorder increase. Also, imaging study in the elderly are more likely to show structural disease in the brain incidentally. Therefore, the proper diagnosis and management of headache in the elderly needs special caution and awareness of the general medical condition including medications and co-morbidity. Also, the desire of the patients should be considered. Many elderly people take a lot of medications. When choosing the medications for headache, use drugs for treating both headache and co-morbidity simultaneously and pay attention to the potential side effects of headache medication that can aggravate co-morbid diseases.