The International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition

This is a bit of news that went under the radar this past January, so it’s about time we gave it some attention. The International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition finally came out of beta, and is publicly available online.

ICHD-3 is a classification of headache disorders. The first edition was published over 30 years ago. As the years have gone by, new research has changed our understanding of migraine, and the ICHD itself is much more “evidence driven” and much less “opinion driven”, according to Jes Olesen, chairman of the Headache Classification Committee.

Of course, people will complain – “I don’t agree with that definition of migraine”, or “I know lots of people who have these symptoms, but not those symptoms”, and so on. And, of course, the discussion needs to continue.

However, whether or not one agrees with every detail is not the point. The ICHD-3 gives us a common framework, a common language. When I say “migraine with aura”, you can compare what I’m saying with a standard definition of migraine with aura and its sub-types. Agree or disagree, we have something to use to compare.

More fine-tuning has been done since the beta version came out in 2013, and you can compare the two versions online.

Thanks to the many people around the world who have brought this edition to the public!

You can use this tool yourself. It’s can be especially useful when talking about your diagnosis with your doctor.

Just go to the main ICHD-3 site, and check the major categories on the left sidebar. Click on one, and from there you’ll see a hierarchy of conditions that you can click through to see.

The site also has video explanations of certain things, especially intended for doctors.