title: Headache.
abstract: The patient who presents with headache can be diagnosed quickly and efficiently once the correct pattern has been identified. Most patients will have migraine, and treatment is based on the severity and disability. If the identified patient has significant disability, a medication that treats comorbidity should be prescribed. Patients who have a serious underlying disorder can be recognized by a thoughtful history and careful examination and can be worked up accordingly. Patients who have an acute new onset headache problem that requires immediate attention can be triaged and treated once their pattern and history are clear. Hopefully, increasing comfort levels with diagnosing headaches will allow the primary care practitioner to treat headache patients more effectively and efficiently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. jgladstein@som.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gladstein
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006261:Headache / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D009819:Office Visits; D011320:Primary Health Care; D014363:Tryptamines / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014363:Tryptamines