Posted by Bob Johnson (208.234.124.40) on October 04, 1999 at 11:31:43:
In Reply to: Smoking & Clusters posted by Nancy on October 03, 1999 at 14:44:55:
I found several reports of elevated use of coffee, alcohol, and smoking and CH. These articles didn't explain why use leads to CH but I'd speculate that the toxic properties of these products may sensitize or irritate blood vessels and make them more easily involved in the process of CH. (Recall Goadsby's research showing that CH is a vascular/neurological process.)
Quoting from one article: "...coffee and alcohol intake were more frequently reported in CH patients than in the general population, with a higher prevalence in chronic CH as opposed to episodic CH sufferers. In particular, smokers accounted for 78.9% of episodic CH patients and 87.8% of chronic CH patients--12.9% of episodic CH patients and 19.6% of chronic CH patients smoked over 30 cigarette a day. Alcohol abuse was reported in 16.2% of episodic and 26.8% of chronic CH patients while coffee abuse was reported in 6.9% of episodic and in 36.6% of chronic CH patients."