What are the Causes of Cluster Headaches?

Women that have both given birth normally and experienced cluster headaches claim that giving birth hurt less.  But unfortunately, the exact cause of these crippling attacks remains unknown. However, attacks often begin during sleep.

Image: "The Headache" by George Cruikshank (1819)

Cluster or suicide headaches are one of the most painful types of neurological conditions that can happen to a human being.  Women that have both given birth normally and experienced cluster headaches claim that giving birth hurt less.  But unfortunately, the exact cause of these crippling attacks remains unknown.  More research needs to be done in order to determine why some people get cluster headaches and not others.

Gender

For an unknown reason, men are far more likely to get cluster headaches than women.  Women aren’t completely lucky because they are three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men.  This may have something to do with hormones, but just how they play a part is still unknown. 

Being a black man over the age of twenty that smokes, drinks and has someone else in the family that also suffers from cluster headaches is the most likely person to develop cluster headaches.  Just why is still unknown. 

Theories For Causes

One theory is that people are born with a genetic predisposition for headache problems, including migraines and cluster headaches.  A variety of conditions have to come about in order to trigger a cluster headache attack.  One of these conditions is the brain not being able to properly absorb the neurotransmitter serotonin.  Perhaps not coincidentally, serotonin problems are also thought to be the blame for migraines, major depression and epilepsy.

One major trigger seems to be a lack of oxygen caused by sleep apnea.  Breathing high-flow oxygen has shown to help many patients that suffer from either migraines or cluster headaches. Lack of oxygen may also explain why many attacks begin one or two hours after a patient falls asleep.  The pain becomes so bad it wakes him or her up.

What About Brain Activity?

The Mayo Clinic reports that MRI scans of cluster headache sufferers had significant activity in the parts of their brains known as the hypothalamus.  Just why is, again, unknown.  Could it be the hypothalamus is malformed or have become damaged in some way?  According to Lori K. Sergeant, MD and Michelle Blanda, MD, sometimes people suffering from cluster headaches did have a head injury in their past.  But not all cluster headache sufferers have had head injuries.

Could the rise or drops in natural hormones produced by the body such as melatonin or cortisol?  Again, we just don’t know.

References:

Migraines For Dummies. Diane Stafford and Jennifer Shoquist, MD. For Dummies; 2003.

ABC News. “Oxygen Therapy Can Help Cluster Headaches.” Lauren Cox. December 9, 2009. 

Mayo Clinic. “Cluster Headache.” 

eMedicine. “Headache, Cluster.” Lori K. Sergeant, MD and Michelle Blanda, MD. May 20, 2010.