It may seem like a minor irritant, but headaches, especially those that occur frequently and are severe can be debilitating. For a one-stop spot to deal with all headaches and to offer comprehensive diagnoses and treatment under one roof, Apollo Hospitals launched a headache clinic on Tuesday. The occasion also saw the launch of a memory loss clinic.
Women more affected
Mild to moderate headaches affect 10 to 20% of the population, said neurologist V.L. Arul Selvan. “It is mostly youngsters who are affected and headaches can be a symptom of an underlying disease. If not treated initially, patients can develop depression and fatigue,” he said. Tension and migraine headaches form a majority of the cases, and women are more likely to be affected than men, said Dr. Selvan. While tension headaches tend to be mild to moderate and patients did not usually consult a doctor, migraine headaches could be severe. Other kinds include cluster headaches and trigeminal neuralgia, both of which could cause intense pain. Dr. Selvan also spoke of newer treatments now available such as botox and radio frequency ablation for severe cases. “Acute severe headaches can be a medical emergency,” he said.
Migraines, which can run in families affect as many as 50 million Indians, around 3 million of them chronically.
At the memory clinic doctors will attempt to find out the cause behind memory losses. “Memory loss can be a mild cognitive impairment that generally does not require treatment or can be dementia, which can be treated in some cases but not in others,” said neurologist S. Rajendran.
Counselling services
He explained that the chances of getting Alzheimer’s, the commonest cause of dementia, increased with age: the chances were 5 to 8% for a person over the age of 65, and increased to 50% over the age of 80. Other causes of dementia included vascular problems, Parkinson’s disease and head injury too, he said. The memory clinic will also provide education and training as well as support and advice to family and caregivers
Both clinics would offer counselling services as well.
Speaking on the occasion, executive chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, Prathap C. Reddy, said the focus of the group was now on personalised medicine. Headaches could disrupt lives and memory loss could create a number of problems, he said. He also said there was now a thrust on wellness, with the the Apollo Wellness centres.
Senior consultant neurologist U. Meenakshi Sundaram also participated.
