Current and potential future drug therapies for tension-type headache.
Tension-type headache is a common primary headache with tremendous socioeconomic impact. Establishment of an accurate diagnosis is important before initiation of any pharmacologic therapy. Simple analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the mainstays of treatment of episodic tension-type headache. The tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline is the drug of choice in the preventive treatment of chronic tension-type headache. Progress in basic neuroscience has emphasized the importance of nitric oxide inhibition and N-methyl-D-aspartate and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxasole-4-propionic acid receptor antagonism in the treatment of chronic pain. It has been demonstrated that inhibition of nitric oxide is effective in chronic tension-type headache. These interesting data indicate that more specific and effective treatment possibilities will emerge in the future.
Ashina
Sait
S
Danish Headache Center, University of Copenhagen and Department of Neurology, Glostrup University Hospital, DK-2600 Glostrup, Copenhagen, Denmark. ashina@dadlnet.dk
Ashina
Messoud
M
D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000700:Analgesics