Posted by Graham (195.92.194.15) on August 10, 2000 at 11:43:37:
I came across the following short article in July’s issue of “The Pharmaceutical Journal” which is published here in the UK, and thought it may be of interest to us all. The article is based on a study published in the “Neurology” journal, and the issue number is quoted in the text below.
SLEEP DISORDERS MAY CAUSE CLUSTER HEADACHES
Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) may trigger cluster headaches (CH), according to researchers from the department of neurology, University of Michigan, US (Neurology 2000; 54:2302).
They evaluated 25 adults with CH in a sleep laboratory and found that 80 percent showed some signs of obstructive sleep apnoea. They say that, although there is no obvious explanation for how SDB could cause CH, several features of the disorder, including hypoxaemia and abrupt changes in sympathetic tone, could trigger vascular changes thought to underlie cluster headache.
CH is particularly likely to occur during sleep and the researches also found an association between the extent of hypoxaemia and the timing of CH occurring during the first half of the night.
Only a short article, I know, but it has provoked some thought with me!
Best Wishes,
G.