COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- New guidelines are intended to stimulate more research into headache treatment, a Danish researcher says.
Dr. Lars Bendtsen and his team at the Clinical Trials Standing Committee of the International Headache Society in Copenhagen, Denmark, developed the recommendations on how to improve the quality and safety of the research into treatments for episodic and chronic tension-type headaches.
The guidelines, published in Cephalalgia, will enhance clinical trial safety for patients and will also allow researchers to determine if older drugs still used to treat tension-type headaches are as effective and safe as they should be.
The last research guidelines for tension-type headache were published in 1995, but few novel or evidence-based treatment options have become available since.
Bendtsen said the goal of focusing research specifically on episodic tension-type headaches and chronic tension-type headaches is to spur new research into the treatment of these commonly occurring headaches.
Over the years, researchers found pain relievers were usually the most effective way of treating all but the most severe episodic headaches. However, researchers found that chronic headache sufferers seldom benefit from pain relievers.
