Posted by Bob Johnson (209.211.41.106) on March 26, 2000 at 17:14:25:
In Reply to: Discussions disagreements posted by Dick R on March 26, 2000 at 11:00:56:
I suspect some of the conflict arises from believing that a headache must fit neatily into one diagnostic "box" or another, i.e., thinking too rigidly. Thinking this way always leads to distortions for our diagnostic categories are "pure types"--a collection of symptoms which don't always appear in reality.
From Diamond and Dalessio, THE PRACTICING PHYSICIAN'S APPROACH TO HEADACHE, 6th ed. "The classification of any disease is difficult, and the disorder 'headache' posesses particular hardship. The primary headache disorders constitute a group of syndromes of uncertain pathophysiology with a complete absence of laboratory or radiographic tests that could be used for diagnostic criteria. The headaches of a patient may change over his or her lifetime in both quantity and quality. Patients may have multiple types of headache. Although 'pure' forms of headache exist, many patients experience transitional forms of headache."