Kids' chronic headaches likely to improve over time

Washington, July 16 (ANI): Most children who suffer from chronic headaches are likely to outgrow the disabling condition over time, says a new study.

"Our results suggest there is hope for children who experience these headaches and for their parents, who also deal with the frustration and considerable disability that this condition can bring," said study author Dr Shuu-Jiun Wang, of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine in Taipei, Taiwan.

"Over time, most of these children get better, eventually having less frequent migraine headaches as young adults," Wang added.

During the study, the researchers examined 122 children in middle school with chronic daily headache between the ages of 12 and 14 years old.

They found that 60 percent of the children no longer had chronic daily headache after one year and 75 percent no longer had the symptoms after two years.

Furthermore, after eight years, only 12 percent of the 103 children tested still experienced symptoms of chronic daily headache.

The study also showed that 75 percent of the children had episodic migraine or probable migraine, while 11 percent became headache free after eight years.

"Parents and children should be prepared for the possibility that while chronic daily headache may get better over time, headaches in general may never fully go away, but for most children the headaches are much less frequent when they become young adults," said Wang.

The research is published in issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (ANI)