Headaches have always been a frequent symptom among children, a source of concern for mums and dads, as well as often a reason for medical consultation. But it is a recent European study coordinated by Agnese Onofri and Simona Sacco of the University of L’Aquila and published in The Journal of Headache and Pain, to give us the exact numbers of the problem. Headache affects over 62% of children and adolescents aged 8-18 (of which 38% in girls and 27% in boys).
The headaches
But what is headache? Or rather what are headaches? In fact, we happen to talk generically about headaches, without remembering that there are actually different types of headaches. And they are so different from each other that they often have not only different symptoms and evolution but also that they require a different clinical approach or therapies.
Without going into too much detail, what is useful is to distinguish the primary headache not secondary headachesi.e. those related to specific pathologies. Most of the episodes of headache accused by the youngest are due to a primary headache, in particular migraine and tension headache, which most often begin already at an early age, even starting from 6-8 years.
Numbers in hand, the study published on The Journal of Headache and Painidentifies migraine in 11% of children aged 8 to 18, tension headache in 17%.
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Not just headaches: other symptoms
The headache may not be alone but be accompanied or preceded by other symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, annoyance with light (photophobia), noise (phonophobia) or even smells (osmophobia). It is no coincidence that we sometimes hear of “migraine with aura”, i.e. a form of migraine whose peculiarity is precisely represented by the aura, a set of neurological symptoms that precede or accompany the headache itself, with variable duration, from a few minutes to an hour.
Risk factors and familiarity
The suspicion of migraine often arises because in the family there are those who suffer or have suffered in the past from headaches: in primary headaches there is often, even if not always, a strong component of familiarity or genetic predisposition.
Recent studies have also underlined the role of some risk factors related to migraine in children, such as problematic and conflicting family situations, school stress, sports pressure or excessive use of smartphones and media devices in general. Alterations in the quantity and quality of sleep can also trigger headache symptoms in very young people.
Help from nutrition
Finally, pay attention to nutrition: good advice is not to skip breakfast, not to exceed in carbohydrates but leave room for fruit and vegetables, which have always been excellent allies of our health. In a nutshell, the trigger of the acute episode can often be sought in an inadequate or unhealthy lifestyle of the very young. Therefore, small corrective actions can help prevent a new migraine episode in children and adolescents.
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Migraine and emotional distress
Finally, a recent literature review published in the journal Jama Pediatrics reveals that migraine in young people can also be accompanied by various forms of emotional distress: very young people who suffer from migraine are more at risk of anxiety and depression. While waiting to better understand whether there is a cause-effect relationship and what comes first, i.e. whether it is the headache that causes anxiety and depression or vice versa, the recommendation is that all children and adolescents with migraine are also kept under control for psychological disorders.
Elena Bozzola, pediatrician, SIP national councilor