Postgraduate medicine
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Headache is a common affliction of humanity. The physician evaluating a patient who happens to have a history of headaches may naturally consider them as part of the disease when formulating a diagnosis, thus attributing undue significance to ordinary functional headaches. ⋯ The presence of headache may aid in or hinder diagnosis. Clues that a headache may indicate cerebrovascular disease are onset after the age of 35; pain described as "the worst headache ever"; persistent localization and progressive worsening of pain; and risk factors for cerebrovascular disease, such as advancing age, hypertension, bruits, and heart disease.