Headaches as we know it, is a pain that we feel in the head which is being accompanied by many diseases and conditions including emotional distress. It is a broad term that basically covers a lot of things. Headaches are also considered as one of the most common ailment that a lot of people are experiencing at some point in their life. It is believed to affect anyone regardless of an individual's age, gender or race.
Researchers have recently found out an alarming increase to the number of American children, between the ages of 4 to 20 years old, being rushed to the pediatric ER due to severe headaches. In the data which was scheduled to be presented Friday at the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) annual meeting, it shows that headache visits have quickly doubled from 2 percent to more than 4 percent of all hospital consultation visits.
According to CBS News, the result of the study suggests that headaches are a growing worrisome responsibility for patients and the health care systems. Study authors have emphasized that it is very unusual to see patients and as well as parents having missed a lot of school hours and work because of this chronic headaches.
In an AAP news release, Health Day reports that for study co-author Dr. Regina Toto, pediatric chief resident at the hospital, allegedly said that the findings were indeed showing them an alarming trend and that they must also be able to figure out why so many children having a chronic headache would really end up in a hospital.
On the other hand, the findings presented at medical meetings are generally considered as initial reports until it's published in a peer-reviewed journal. Thus, it's still a bit too early to determine if something is indeed causing this wave of chronic headaches.
