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FRIDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Botox injections may be an effective treatment for sufferers of chronic daily headache, according to a new study.
"The diagnosis of chronic daily headache is used in patients who have 15 or more 'headache days' in a 30-day period," study co-investigator Dr. Stephen Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, said in a prepared statement. Experts estimate about four percent of the world's population suffers from this type of recurrent headache pain.
In their study involving 117 patients, Silberstein's team found that after three cycles of Botox (botulinum toxin type A) injections in the face, head and neck, nearly 60 percent of participants experienced an average 50 percent reduction in headaches.
The study -- funded by Allergan, Inc., the makers of Botox -- was presented April 14 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, in Miami Beach, Fla.
People with chronic daily headache are likely to have family, social and occupational problems, which perpetuate the headache cycle, Silberstein noted, and many also suffer occasional or frequent migraines.
More information
The American Council for Headache Education outlines different kinds of headaches (www.achenet.org ).
-- Robert Preidt
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