Men with migraine

A week ago the National Headache Foundation in the USA came out with a new statistic about men and migraine.  It took me a while to figure out what they were saying in the press release (see press releases here), but I think I have a handle on it now.  To quote:

Despite the long-held belief that migraine headache is only a “woman’s disease,” a recent online survey conducted by the National Headache Foundation (NHF) revealed that men who were diagnosed with headache were most often diagnosed with migraine headaches (36%).

So basically when men actually go to the doctor complaining of a headache, the most common diagnosis is headache due to migraine.

This doesn’t take away from the fact that women seem to be more prone to to migraine attacks than men.  But what it does say is that men do get migraine (so that’s why I was stuck in my bed from early afternoon yesterday until this morning!), and perhaps more often than is commonly believed.  The press release suggests that men may be reluctant to go to the doctor because of a symptom as "minor" as a headache.  And so it may be hard to come up with exact stats.  It’s probable about 5-8% of men live with migraine – that’s about 1 in 15 – pretty significant!

Well, men, there are some good reasons to get to the doctor.  First, a headache can be a sign of something serious.  Second, there may be a solution – and you might be able to be a lot more productive by getting rid of that nasty symptom.

Have you ever heard the saying,"Women get sick, and men die?"  The point is, women take care of themselves, go to the doctor, get treatment, and often have improved health as a result.  Men stick it out, try not to complain, don’t get treatment, and die sooner.

Think about it.