Thu Hoai

Some retired NFL players live with nearly constant headaches, thuoc tri ung thu and their misery is frequently punctuated with skull-splitting migraines, a new study reports.

An evaluation of eight retired football pros found that the former players averaged more than 19 headache days per month. Twelve of those 19 days involved migraines, said study author Dr. Frank Conidi, director of the Florida Center for Headache & Sports Neurology in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

“Almost every other day these players are having migraines, and some were actually having them every day,” said Conidi, who is scheduled to present his findings Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles. Findings presented at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

By comparison, the average incidence of headache for all men is three to four a month, he said.

Only 3 percent of the general population suffers from chronic headache, or 15 or more headache days per month, according to the International Association for the Study of Pain.

Worse, nearly all the players told Conidi that they were not receiving any treatment for their headaches.

“Only one of the eight had insurance, and that was the only one being treated appropriately for his migraine headaches,” Conidi said. “These are retired professional athletes without access to health care. That is shocking.”

The headaches most likely are caused by concussions that the players experienced on the field. The retirees told Conidi that they had experienced more than seven concussions on average during their years of play.

The average age of the eight players is 37, and they played an average 4.6 years in the NFL.

“I’m not surprised by these findings,” said Dr. David Dodick, director of the Sport Neurology and Concussion Program at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Headache is the most common symptom of concussion, and persistent headache is one of the most common symptoms of repeated concussions.”

Dodick said he tao mat troi also isn’t surprised that the players were not receiving specialized care for their headaches, given that there are only about 400 board-certified headache specia