Doctors should consider the arteries as focal point of trouble in cases of severe headaches, Dr. Henry D. Ogden, of the Louisiana State university medical school, said Wednesday in a speech in Detroit.
Dr. Ogden addressed the first session of a two-day annual scientific assembly of the Michigan Academy of General Practice.
Headaches can have so many different causes that it's a waste of time "looking for a single cure for them, he said.
Aside from headaches caused by injury and other physical causes, the trouble starts in arteries serving the brain, Dr. Ogden explained. For a wide variety of reasons, the arteries become constricted, or smaller in diameter than usual, he said.
Medication which dialates, or widens, the arteries will be effective if taken when the headache first starts. Otherwise, bed rest and analgesic drugs such as aspirin are standard treatment, he/ said.
