Virtually everyone has had a bad headache at some point: the pounding and pressure in your head that can leave you in pain and wondering what you did to bring it on. If you’re lucky, the pain subsides in a short period of time and you move on. Sometimes the foods we eat or the medications we take can be the cause of a headache. In older people, headaches can also be a sign that something more serious is going on, and the challenge is to determine quickly and accurately when a headache is a secondary symptom of some other condition or disease that needs medical attention. For an overview of headaches in seniors, and what may cause them, read Here.

For those of you who experience migraine headaches, however, the onset and endurance can be a multi-hour, disabling event. It’s estimated that 1 in 5 people in the developed world experience migraines, and it’s been known for a while that migraines tend to run in families. Research just published in the journal Neuron describes new scientific understanding of the genetic basis for these painful headaches and may lead to the development of new treatment options. You can read more about this research from a recent post in STAT Plus Here (paywall). You should also take a look at a new migraine treatment approach that is expected to be approved by the FDA in the coming months. Though this new therapeutic approach, involving a monthly injection, will be costly and lacks long-term safety data, for people who have struck out on current treatment options, it may represent a new possibility for relief.