KARACHI, Feb 8: Headache, which is emerging to be a major cause of disability, must be diagnosed and treated without any delay, said senior neurologist Prof Arif Harekar here on Thursday.

Talking to APP, the expert said the often overlooked condition which could be migraine or tumour-induced headache had a debilitating effect on the sufferer.

The most alarming fact, the neurologist said, was the situation when people with brain tumours experienced severe headache yet the physician concerned failed to identify the cause resulting in morbidity as well as mortality.

The loss of sight was cited to be one of the numerous morbidities eventually leading to death -- despite the fact that these could be largely prevented through proper diagnosis and timely as well as appropriate medical intervention.

Prof Harekar said migraine and brain tumours causing headache with different contributory factors and also being two different conditions do have similar certain similarities in their manifestation.

“Vomiting and zero tolerance to noise pollution and exposure to sunlight as well as to the artificially created luminescence is the common factor between the two categories of suffering,” he said.

Migraine, an equally disabling condition, may subside after a sound sleep and can be significantly controlled through proper diet that must exclude milk-made products as well as chocolates and Chinese food — with ajinomoto as their essential ingredient.

Mentioning that resorting to dieting also aggravates migraine, the neurologist said it was mainly because of decline in blood sugar level.

To a question, he said the prevalence of migraine was estimated to be four per cent in Pakistan and that as a universal standard it is in its peak among people aged between 25 and 45.—APP