A KIND of headache that mainly afflicts men may be triggered in the part of
the brain that controls daily rhythms.
So-called cluster headaches strike at the same time each day for about a
month then disappear for long periods, sometimes years. Peter Goadsby and his
colleagues at the Institute of Neurology in London used positron emission
tomography to look at blood flow in the brains of 17 men who have cluster
headaches. Nine were 鈥渋n bout鈥�, the others were not.
The neurologists found that the posterior hypothalamus, the centre that
controls circadian rhythms, is activated at the same time that the cluster
headaches begin (The Lancet, vol 351, p 275). 鈥淲e were beside ourselves
with excitement,鈥� says Goadsby. Cluster headaches are clearly not simple
vascular events, as previously believed, he says. 鈥淭he nerves are driving the
丑别补诲补肠丑别.鈥�
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