HEADACHES AND HEALTH

by Heywood Gould ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1973

Mr. Gould is a layman not a doctor; unlike Arthur S. Freese (Headaches, p. 160) he has no elaborate schema for classifying headaches, nor does he add insult to injury by telling you it's all in your mind -- psychologically induced. What he does offer is a holistic, reasonable approach toward containment, if not cure. Headaches -- he discusses migraines and the catchall ""tension"" headache most fully -- can be produced by an almost unlimited number of precipitants: anxiety, repressed rage, and guilt to be sure, by also tyamine (a substance found in cheese and beer), chocolate, Vitamin B deficiencies, eye strain, fatigue, hypoglycemia, fatty acids, premenstrual hormonal imbalance and much more -- and usually in combination. Sensibly, he stresses preventive and precautionary measures and the need to experiment and try to isolate your own particular ""trigger"" mechanism. He supplies a clear discussion of the sensory apparatus involved from the first dilated blood vessel pressing on the cranial nerves to the release of neurokinin, the fluid which may be the specific pain agent. Interspersed are the tribulations of sufferers from Mesopotamia to Victorian England and remedies from massage and tranquilizers to ergotamine for the chronic migrainoid. Mr. Gould is well-informed and solicitous; he may not heal but he definitely won't provoke the kind of headache we get from bad books.

Pub Date: May 8, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION