Headache

Headache is one of the most frequent symptoms encountered in medical practice.

The great value in development of a headache is given to the vascular factor. The so-called vascular variant of a headache is observed in many vascular, cardiovascular diseases and pathological conditions, including migraine, hypertonic disease, arterial hypotension, atherosclerosis of brain vessels, disturbed brain circulation, acute and chronic cardiac insufficiency.

Other kind of a headache develops in pathological processes, primarily affection of sensitive receptors and nerves. It may include headache observed in pathological processes in the brain (a tumour, abscesses, hematomas and so on), in infectious inflammatory processes of the brain matter and brain membranes (encephalitis, meningitis, arachnoiditis), in cervical radiculitis, diseases of the nose, ears, eyes.

The third kind of a headache is caused basically by damage of muscles of the skull.

Character of a headache can be various. A throbbing or pressing headache localized in the area of the back of the head and accompanied by dizziness, tinnitus, nausea (sometimes vomiting), "flash spots" before eyes on the background of high arterial pressure (it is most often observed in hypertonic crisis) are signs of a headache of this etiology. In a low level of arterial pressure, the headache in most cases is moderate, the most expressed in the mornings. It is often accompanied by sensation of weakness, indisposition, formidable yawning. Such patients are inclined to faints, they often complain of palpitation and increased fatiguability.

Headache is a frequent symptom of some acute and chronic diseases of internal organs, in particular diseases of the heart.

Some patients complain of squeezing headaches, dizziness in prolonged attack of stenocardia, in acute myocardial infarction. In some cases in the patients with acute myocardial infarction the headache is accompanied by losing of consciousness.

Complete medical, neurological and psychiatric examinations are sometimes necessary to get at the root of the trouble. The ophthalmoscopic examination must never be omitted when the symptom of headache is evaluated.

Treatment of a headache depends on underlying etiology or cause, but commonly involves analgesics.

Exercise 8. Answer the following questions:

1. What kind of symptom is headache?

2. In what cardiovascular diseases is headache observed?

3. What other symptoms can headache be accompanied by?

4. What kinds of headache are there?

5. What kind of a headache do patients complain of in angina and acute myocardial infarction?

6. What examinations are necessary to understand the root of the trouble?

7. What examination must never be omitted when the symptom of a headache is evaluated?

8. How can a headache be treated?

Exercise 9. Agree or contradict the following statements:

1. The vascular factor of headache is observed in migraine, arterial hypertension and other diseases associated with damaged vessels.

2. There are no headaches in pathological processes in the brain.

3. The ophthalmoscopic examination should be excluded in evaluation of headache.

4. A complete history is essential in frequent headaches.

5. Headaches in myocardium infarction arise due to insufficiency of brain circulation.

6. In low arterial pressure the headache is the most expressed in the evening.

7. Headache is a rare sign in some acute and chronic diseases of inner organs.

Exercise 10. Match the terms with their definitions:

1. headache 2. throbbing 3. tinnitus 4. meningitis 5. migraine 6. hypotention 7. fartigue 8. yawning

a) the decreased capacity or complete inability of an organism, organ, or part to function normally because of excessive stimulation or prolonged exertion; b) abnormally low arterial blood pressure; c) an involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue; d) noise such as buzzing, ringing, or whistling, heard in the ear without an external stimulus and having multiple causes including infection, trauma, and drugs; e) a severe headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, characterized by sharp pain and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances; f) to beat rapidly or violently, as the heart; g)pain in the head, caused by dilation of cerebral arteries, muscle contraction, insufficient oxygen in the cerebral blood, reaction to drugs, etc.; h) inflammation of the meninges of the brain and the spinal cord, most often caused by a bacterial or viral infection.

Exercise 11. Find English equivalents of the following word combinations:

Найчастіший симптом, чутливі рецептори, хронічна серцева недостатність, тривалий напад, відповідне лікування, оболонки мозку, запальний процес, серцево-судинні захворювання, шийний радикуліт, пульсуючий головний біль, запаморочення і шум у вухах, нудота та блювання, гіпертонічний криз, втрата свідомості, недостатність мозкового кровообігу, помірний головний біль, стискаючий головний біль.

Exercise 12. Put the special questions to the underlined words and words combinations:

1. Headache may be observed in pathological processes in the brain.

2. Headache due to low arterial pressure is often accompanied by weakness, formidable yawning and fatiguability.

3. The ophthalmoscopic examination must never be omitted when the symptom of headache is evaluated.

4. Some patients complain of squeezing headaches, dizziness.

5. Headache is accompanied by losing of consciousness.

6. Character of a headache can be various.

7. In the low level of arterial pressure the headache is moderate.

8. Chronic headaches are often associated with anxiety, depression, or a specific group of mental disorders known as somatoform disorders.

Exercise 13. Description of pain. It`s interesting to remember.

Patient`s description of pain: Explanation

Aching ( an ache) a general pain,often in muscles and joints

Boring a drill

Burning with heat

Colicky an intermittent pain which varies in intensity

Crampy (cramp) an involuntary spasmodic muscle contraction

Crushing a feeling of pressure

Dull a background pain, opposite of sharp

Gnawing biting

Gripping a feeling of tightness

Scalding like boiling water

Sharp acute

Stabbing like a knife

Stinging sharp, burning, like an insect sting

Throbbing with a pusle or beat

Exercise 14. Translate into English:

1. Другий вид головного болю розвивається при патологічних процесах, перш за все поразці чутливих рецепторів і нервів.

2. Третій вид головного болю викликаний пошкодженням м'язів черепа.

3. Головний біль третього типу характеризується пульсуючим або тиснучим болем в потилиці.

4. Хворий скаржиться на запаморочення, шум у вухах, нудоту і навіть блювоту.

5. Головний біль – частий симптом деяких гострих і хронічних захворювань внутрішніх органів.

6. Офтальмологічний огляд повинен бути зроблений при оцінці головного болю.

7. При низькому рівні артеріального тиску головний біль носить помірний характер.

8. При головному болю пацієнти скаржаться на стискаючий быль та запаморочення.

Exercise 15. Translate into English paying attention to the Participles:

1. Будучи дуже зайнятий, він не відразу почув мене.

2. Дівчинка, що плаче, була голодна.

3. Вона любила дивитися на граючих дітей.

4. Читаючи англійську книгу, він виписав багато нових слів.

5. Вислуховуючи серце хворої дитини, лікар почув шуми.

6. Пошкоджена рука дуже хворіла.

7. Готуючись до операції, хірург завжди обробляє руки ретельно.

Exercise 16. Open the brackets and put the correct form of the verb:

1. She (to lose) consciousness and (to transfer) to our hospital on the same day.

2. Quick action by a doctor sometimes (to reduce) the damage or (to prevent) more damages.

3. In both patients, brain abscess (to develop) at the stroke lesion site after they (to have) an infectious complication. 

4. If the stroke already (to happen) blood clotting drugs are not effective.

5. The ischemic infarction (to demonstrate) by computer assisted tomography and angiography.

6. After the patient (to develop) the left hemiparesis, he (to admit) to our hospital.

7. As soon as a doctor (to gather) all information he (to make) a diagnosis of a suspected ischemic stroke.

8. Occlusion of small brain arteries very rarely (to cause) by the intravascular lymphoma, which first (to describe) in 1959.

Exercise 17. Fill in the table “symptoms of hypotension” using information from the text.

the level of blood pressure
the intensity of a headache
the time of the maximum pain expression
the accompanying symptoms
other patients’ complaints