In Good Health: Why Headaches Are Misunderstood

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4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

Headaches are one of the most common neurological conditions in the world. They’re also one of the most debilitating, mysterious, and misunderstood.

According to the World Health Organization, 3 billion people worldwide suffer from headache disorders. And one in six Americans suffers from headaches that are so severe they limit their ability to work, sleep, or otherwise function.

We discuss headaches as a part of our series “In Good Health,” where we talk about the bodily issues that most affect us.

What do we know about headaches and who they affect? What works when it comes to treating headaches?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	headaches are one of the most common neurological conditions in the world. According to the
0:13.1	World Health Organization, three billion people worldwide suffer from headache disorders. They're also
0:19.1	one of the most debilitating, mysterious, and misunderstood.
0:23.3	One in six Americans suffers from headaches that are so severe, they limit their ability to work,
0:28.5	sleep, or otherwise function. That includes some of you. Here's Hannah.
0:33.2	I suffer from chronic headaches and chronic facial pain.
0:38.0	It's constant.
0:39.3	I never get a break.
0:40.3	There's no normal.
0:42.1	It's become my new normal after five years.
0:44.4	I wake up with pain in my face and at the top of my head.
0:48.5	And then I have flare-ups where things get to a point where I can't even like see a TV, can't move, it's miserable. I've seen so many
0:57.2	physicians, different specialties, and I get temporary relief, but nothing permanent. It's very exhausting.
1:03.6	It's very isolating. You feel like nobody understands you, and it's sometimes just very defeating.
1:10.7	But then you have to keep going with your day.
1:12.8	I still have to be a mom and a wife. So just try to remember that I'm stronger than I think.
1:18.1	Hannah, thanks for that call. Today we discuss headaches as part of our series in Good Health.
1:23.6	That's when we talk about the health issues that most affect us and put your questions to the experts.
1:28.3	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. Back with more in just a moment. Stay with us.
1:38.5	Let's meet our panel. With us from Missoula, Montana is Tom Zeller Jr. He's the author of The Headache, the Science of a Most Confounding Affliction and a Search for Relief. He's also the editor-in-chief of the Digital Science magazine, Undark. Tom, welcome to the program. Hi, Jen. Thanks for having me. And joining us from Scottsdale, Arizona, is Dr. Amal Starling, a headache neurologist at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Starling, welcome.
2:02.7	Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to have this great conversation about something
2:07.4	that's not often talked about, but definitely relevant. Well, we want to hear from you, too. If you suffer
	...

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