Cluster Headache and Lifestyle: Remarks on A Population of 374 Male Patients

Abstract

To investigate the relation between cluster headache (CH) and lifestyle, some lifestyle factors were considered in a population of 374 CH male patients consecutively referred to the same headache center, including 306 with episodic CH, 22 with chronic CH unremitting from onset, 20 with chronic CH evolved from episodic, and 26 with CH periodicity undetermined CH patients had jobs involving greater responsibilities and were more frequently self-employed than controls. In addition, their past medical histories often reported head injury, either with loss of consciousness (13.4%) or without loss of consciousness (23.5% of cases). As regards nonessential consumption habits, both cigarette-smoking and 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 cigarettes 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. Rather than pointing to a single lifestyle factor directly implicated in CH onset, my review suggests a common trend among CH patients to overindulge in certain living habits.

Chronic cluster headache: a review

“…There were a few more alcohol drinkers in CCH compared to ECH, but the chronic patients were evidently heavier drinkers [12]. PCCH patients were more frequently heavy drinkers compared to SCCH patients [11].…”

“…Up to 90% of CH patients are smokers or former smokers [12] and there seem to be some differences between the episodic and chronic forms (Tables 3 and 4). In an Italian study, more male CCH patients smoked compared to ECH patients and the chronic patients also smoked more cigarettes a day [12]. Comparing the two chronic forms, there were more and also more heavy smokers in the SCCH group [11].…”

Cluster headache in childhood and adolescence: one-year prevalence in an out-patient population

“…A lifetime prevalence between 0.07% and 0.14% emerged in population-based studies [6][7][8][9][10] with a clear male preponderance which seems to decrease in the last decades [8,9]. This was attributed to changes in lifestyle factors over the years (such as employment rate and smoking habits), but this finding was not recently confirmed [22].…”

Cluster–like headache after surgical crystalline removal and intraocular lens implant: a case report

“…In a great number of case reports, it is often difficult to point out if there is a real causal correlation between the organic lesion and CH, or if it is just coincidence. The patient had a history of smoking, which would predispose him for the development of CH [12]. In our opinion, there are three points to consider regarding whether a true causal relation exists between the surgery and the development of CH in this case.…”