READ TEXT II AND ANSWER QUESTION

TEXTO II

HEADACHES

Some little man is inside your head, pounding your brain with a hammer. Beside him, a rock musician is playing a drum. Your head feels as if it is going to explode. You have a headache, and you think it will never go away.

Doctors say there are several kinds of headaches. Each kind begins in a different place and needs a different treatment.

One kind starts in the arteries in the head. The arteries swell and send pain signals to the brain. Some of these headaches start with a change in vision. The person sees wavy lines, black dots, or bright spots in front of the eyes. This is a warning that a headache is coming. The headache occurs on only one side of the head. The vision is blurred, and the person may vomit from the pain. These headaches, which are called migraine headaches, are more frequent in women than in men. Sleep is the best cure for them.

Cluster headaches, which also start in the arteries, are called cluster headaches because they come in clusters or groups for 2 or 3 months. Then there are no more for several months or even years. A cluster headache lasts up to 2 hours and then goes away. At the beginning of the headache, the eyes are red and watery. There is a steady pain in the head. When the pain finally goes away, the head is sore. Men have more cluster headaches than women do.

The muscle headache, which starts in the muscles in the neck or forehead, is caused by tension. A person works too hard, is nervous about something, or has problems at work, at school, or at home. The neck and head muscles become tense, and the headache starts. A muscle headache usually starts in the morning and gets worse as the hours pass. There is a steady pain, pressure, and a bursting feeling. Usually aspirin doesn’t help a muscle headache very much.

How do doctors treat headaches? If a person has frequent headaches, the doctor first has to decide what kind they are. Medicine can help, but there are other ways to treat them.

The doctor asks the patient to analyze his or her daily living patterns. A change in diet or an increase in exercise might stop the headaches. If the patient realizes that difficulties at home, at work, or at school are causing tension, it might be possible to make changes and decrease these problems. Psychological problems and even medicine for another physical problem can cause headaches. The doctor has to discuss and analyze all these patterns of the patient’s life. A headache can also be a signal of a more serious problem.

Everyone has headaches from time to time. In the United States alone, up to 50 million persons each year go to the doctor because of headaches. If you have a headache, and it continues over several days, or keeps recurring, it is time to talk to a doctor. There is no magic cure for headaches, but doctors can control most of them because of recent research.

Source: Ackert, P. Cause and effect: intermediate reading practice. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1999.

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