HIV Patients Commonly Suffer From Headaches

Posted by Caitlin Bronson on December 16, 2011 6:45 AM

Severe headaches plague about half of HIV patients in the United States, HealthDay News reported. According to a study from the University of Mississippi, about 27.5 percent of the 200 HIV/AIDS patients monitored suffered “chronic migraine” for 15 or more days a month.

By contrast, that kind of headache is experienced by only two percent of the general population.

“This translates into a 13-fold increased risk of chronic migraine among patients with HIV disease,” said study author Todd Smitherman of the university’s psychology department. “The strongest predictor of headache was the severity of HIV disease, such that patients with more advanced disease had more frequent, more severe and more disabling migraines.”

http://www.thirdage.com/news/hiv-patients-commonly-suffer-from-headaches_12-16-2011