Investigators from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, conducted a follow-up telephone interview of patients with a history of headaches diagnosed in 1983. Of 60 patients in the study, follow-up was achieved for 28 (47%). Over the 30 years since diagnosis, 8 (29%) patients reported a complete resolution. The type of headache varied between migraine and tension-type over the 30-year time interval, only 3 patients maintaining the same headache type at all four time periods between 1983 and 2013. Prescription medication to control the headache was the primary treatment (a triptan) in only one patient, and nonprescription analgesia, self-relaxation and/or hypnosis, and precipitant avoidance were the most commonly used interventions. [1]
COMMENTARY. Headaches persist for up to 30 years in 70% of children monitored at four 10-year time periods since diagnosis in 1983. Simple analgesia and avoidance of precipitants are the most effective methods of management of pediatric headaches. The goal of treatment is prevention or control, not cure. These results are similar to those obtained in a previous long-term follow-up study of 73 children with migraine; only 23% were migraine-free at 23 years and more than 50% continued to have migraine headaches at 50 year follow-up [2]. In children, diet is a factor in the etiology of migraine often difficult to control [3].