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Secondary headaches in the elderly

  • Headaches in Extreme Age of Life
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Abstract

The prevalence of headache decreases with age. However, headache is still ranked as one of the most frequent complaints in the elderly. Aging is accompanied by a decline in the incidence of most primary headache disorders and by an increase in organic causes of headache, especially after 55–60 years of age. New onset headaches or a change in headache pattern in this age group carries a high index of suspicion for organic diseases. A broad differential diagnosis and unique diagnostic considerations must be considered. Secondary headache disorders reflect underlying organic diseases such as giant cell arteritis, intracranial mass lesion, cerebrovascular diseases or metabolic abnormality.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to the publication of his article.

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Correspondence to P. Tanganelli.

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Tanganelli, P. Secondary headaches in the elderly. Neurol Sci 31 (Suppl 1), 73–76 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0277-6

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