The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction―and a Search for Relief

Dive into the neuroscience of headache with “The Headache” — essential reading for neurologists, headache specialists, general practitioners, and any patient living with a chronic headache disorder who wants to understand what is actually happening in the brain and what the current state of treatment offers.

Headache disorders are among the most prevalent neurological conditions in the world, yet they remain underdiagnosed, undertreated, and frequently dismissed in clinical settings. This book addresses that gap directly, covering the full spectrum of headache disorders — from episodic tension-type headache and migraine with and without aura to chronic daily headache, cluster headache, and medication overuse headache — with the scientific depth these conditions deserve. The biology of migraine is explored in particular detail, including the role of cortical spreading depression, trigeminovascular activation, central sensitisation, and the CGRP pathway that has driven the most significant advances in headache treatment in decades. The book covers the full treatment landscape including acute and preventive pharmacological options, neuromodulation devices, behavioural and lifestyle approaches, and the newer CGRP-targeting antibodies that have changed the management of chronic migraine.

Whether you are a neurologist, a headache specialist, a general practitioner managing patients with migraine, a patient trying to understand your own condition more fully, or a researcher working in this space, this book provides the scientific foundation and clinical context that headache medicine deserves.