The latest research on cluster headache is cited here. Many of the abstracts are available for reading free of charge. Some of the articles require a very expensive online registration.

If there is an article you especially want to read, copy the name, volume, and date of the journal in which the article appears. Also, copy the exact name of the article you want and the author's name. Ask your reference librarian to get the article for you if it is not available in your library. Interlibrary loans and reprints of articles are generally very inexpensive.

   This article by Teri Robert and Deborah Wirtel of About.com discusses research into a CGRP antagonist which might provide relief to cluster headache and migraine sufferers.

Paul L. Durham, Ph.D., from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield comments: "Given the apparent absence of vasoconstrictor activity with this agent, BIBN 4096 BS and possibly other CGRP-receptor antagonists may provide an alternative for the treatment of migraine that rivals triptans, although a formulation that may be administered as easily as the current triptans must first be developed ... "

New England Journal of Medicine View the abstract of the original article about the CGRP receptor antagonist BIBN 4096 BS which appeared in this publication on March 11, 2004.

   According to Dr. Peter J. Goadsby, "Fundamental to the concept of primary headache, like cluster headaches and migraine, is the currently accepted view that these conditions are due to abnormal brain function with completely normal brain structure. Our study shows that this is simply not the case..."

  Read about tests your neurologist may order: MRI, CT scan, PET...

by MFP Peres, MA Stiles, et al. Blackwell-Synergy offers this abstract from "Cephalalgia" Volume 22, Issue 7, Page 520 - September 2002 - "...We treated 14 cluster headache patients with greater occipital nerve block as transitional therapy (treatment initiated at the same time as preventive therapy). The mean number of headache-free days was 13.1+23.6. Four patients (28.5%) had a good response,..."

From the same source: "Spontaneous carotid artery dissection with cluster-like headache"

by F Mainardi, F Maggioni, et al. "A case of carotid artery dissection in a 41-year-old-woman is described whose main symptom was cluster-like pain. The case is interesting for its atypical presentation with only two other like cases in the literature,..."