Headache in cerebrovascular disease. A common symptom of stroke.

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. This may account for the myths that unruptured aneurysms or arteriovenous malformations cause headache and that migraine can eventually lead to stroke. Sometimes, however, headaches do warn of cerebrovascular disease or occur as part of that disease. 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.