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Headache

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Neurological Disorders in the Arab World

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Abstract

Headache is the most common neurological symptom and is experienced by almost everyone. This chapter reviews the data available from the Arab World on the prevalence of headache and its various types, such as migraine and tension headache. It also reviews the hospital-based studies related to headache and data related to other types of headache, such as idiopathic intracranial hypertension and giant cell arteritis. The data about headache prevalence among Arabs are varied and somewhat contradictory. While migraine prevalence is within the estimated worldwide range, tension headache prevalence is lower than what is globally reported. On the other hand, the overall headache prevalence rates in different Arab countries are either lower or higher than the estimated global rate. Headache prevalence in Saudi Arabia is very low in comparison to Qatar and Oman, which are similar ethnically, climatically, economically and culturally. The reasons of this are unknown, but methodological variation could be one factor. The gender and age distribution of headache in the Arab nations is generally in line with other countries. Most headache patients attending neurology outpatient clinics in Arab countries are young women. The incidence of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in Libya is higher than reported elsewhere. The clinical features of giant cell arteritis are not different from those reported elsewhere. There are no data from the Arab countries about the economic burden of headache or the prevalence and severity of disabilities related to headache and migraine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton, UK

    Hani T. S. Benamer FRCP, PhD

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  1. Hani T. S. Benamer FRCP, PhD
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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Benamer, H.T.S. (2014). Headache. In: Neurological Disorders in the Arab World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07257-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07257-9_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07256-2

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