Abuse of Pain Meds Can Give Kids Chronic Headaches

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010626/hl/headaches_2.html

By Melissa Schorr  6-27-01

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Overuse of common over-the-counter 
pain 
medications such as aspirin, acetaminophen, and codeine for 
headaches can 
actually trigger chronic headaches in adolescents, a team of Israeli 
researchers reports.

``Pediatricians...should be aware of the possibility that the 
continuous 
progressive increase in headache frequency might be due to abuse, 
even of 
the 'harmless' acetaminophen,'' write Dr. Rachel Hering-Hanit, a 
neurologist at the Meir General Hospital in Kfar Saba, and colleagues. 
``They should avoid advising children to take pain medications 'at 
liberty'.''

Although scientists are not certain why pain medications can lead to 
chronic headaches, many believe that the introduction of the drugs 
induces the brain to produce less pain-killing chemicals on its own.

``The more of these medications you take, the less your own brain 
makes,'' Dr. Merle L. Diamond, associate director of the Diamond 
Headache 
Clinic in Chicago, Illinois, told Reuters Health. ``We certainly know 
it 
in adults. It's nice to see it documented in kids.''

Over three years, the Israeli researchers treated 26 adolescents 
with 
chronic headaches. The findings are published in the June issue of 
the 
Journal of Child Neurology.

At the start of the study, the children reported experiencing 
headaches 
on 25 days out of the month. The average number of tablets taken by 
each 
patient was 28 each week, with 16 using pain medication daily. But 
two 
months after stopping all pain medications, the children reported 
suffering headaches for fewer than 3 days a month.

Although the researchers documented more than a decade ago that 
overuse 
of pain medications triggers headaches in up to 15% of adults who 
visit 
headache clinics, the similar effect on children was only first 
reported 
in 1998.

``This disorder is practically unknown to pediatricians,'' Dr. Natan 
Gadoth, professor of neurology at Tel Aviv University in Israel, told 
Reuters Health. ``Patients, parents and caretakers should be familiar 
with this disorder and make every effort to enroll the child in a 
gradual 
withdrawal regimen which is safe and easy to complete at the home 
setting.''

Most parents are unaware of how much their teenagers may be 
self-medicating, Diamond noted. ``If your child is complaining of 
daily 
headaches and they're old enough to open that cap, it's important to 
keep 
an eye on how much your kids are using,'' she said.

``Our general rule is no more than two days of treatment a week. If 
your 
kid needs more than that, they need to get other preventative 
therapies 
or life management treatment,'' Diamond advised.

SOURCE: Journal of Child Neurology 2001:16:448-449