title: Providing relief from headache pain. Current options for acute and prophylactic therapy.
abstract: The sometimes debilitating pain of migraine and other types of primary headache can be difficult to control with acute drug therapy alone. Often patients need both acute and prophylactic treatment to keep headache pain at bay. Dr Ward discusses the current treatment options for migraine with and without aura, tension-type headache, and cluster headache. He also provides practical pointers for use of the various formulations of specific drugs, including the newer "triptan" medications.
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Thomas.N.Ward@Hitchcock.org
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000188:drug therapy; D006261:Headache / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists