ABSTRACT
Headache is the most frequent pain disorder and has been experienced by almost everyone. Despite the widespread prevalence, the pathophysiology behind the primary headache disorders is widely unknown. Treatment strategies are nonspecific in most cases, although acute migraine therapy with the advent of the triptans has improved considerably. Migraine and tension-type headache are the most prevalent primary headaches. Migraine is classified as either migraine with or without aura. Migraine has a quite uniform worldwide prevalence with lifetime prevalence at 16 percent and one year prevalence at 10 percent. Cluster headache is a chronobiological headache with a tendency for the attacks to occur at a certain time of the day. The attacks are most likely generated from the hypothalamus where activation has been observed during attacks. The pain is most likely a trigeminovascular pain with dilation of large cerebral arteries.
