Abstract
Headache is the world's seventh most significant cause of disability-adjusted-life in people aged between 10 and 14 years. Therapeutic management is based on pharmacological approaches and lifestyle recommendations. Many studies show associations between each migraine-promoting lifestyle, behavioral triggers, frequency, and intensity of headaches. Nevertheless, the overall aspects of this topic lack any definitive evidence. Educational programs advise that pediatric patients who suffer from migraines follow a correct lifestyle and that this is of the utmost importance in childhood, as it will improve quality of life and assist adult patients in avoiding headache chronicity, increasing general well-being. These data are important due to the scarcity of scientific evidence on drug therapy for prophylaxis during the developmental age. The “lifestyle recommendations” described in the literature include a perfect balance between regular sleep and meal, adequate hydration, limited consumption of caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol, regular physical activity to avoid being overweight as well as any other elements causing stress. The ketogenic diet is a possible new therapeutic strategy for the control of headache in adults, however, the possible role of dietary factors requires more specific studies among children and adolescents. Educational programs advise that the improvement of lifestyle as a central element in the management of pediatric headache will be of particular importance in the future to improve the quality of life of these patients and reduce the severity of cephalalgic episodes and increase their well-being in adulthood. The present review highlights how changes in different aspects of daily life may determine significant improvements in the management of headaches in people of developmental age.
Highlights
Migraine and other headache syndromes represent an enormous source of morbidity, especially among the pediatric population
Homeostasis and regularity are important in the pediatric population that suffers from headaches, during the challenging time of childhood and adolescent life
Lifestyle recommendations should play a crucial role in the management of headache (Table 4)
Summary
Migraine and other headache syndromes represent an enormous source of morbidity, especially among the pediatric population. Meal skipping should be linked to subjective somatic and psychological health complaints in a pediatric population, as shown in the CASPIAN-V study [12] Another lifestyle factor contributing as a “trigger” for headaches is stress. The active drugs are associated with higher rates of adverse events In pediatric age, these aspects should be taken into account more carefully than in adults, as the placebo response, in children, may have a more significant impact on the sample size under investigation. These aspects should be taken into account more carefully than in adults, as the placebo response, in children, may have a more significant impact on the sample size under investigation Based on these pieces of evidence, pediatricians should help migraine-children in limiting the impact of lifestyle triggers, thereby mitigating the severity and frequency of their attacks by offering lifestyle programs. The search for the best pieces of evidence associated with each one of these factors may produce best-practice recommendations
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