Abstract
During resent years a number of good quality books in English have become available where the management of migraine and other headache conditions is highlighted. This book by Dr Spierings is another example where a case-based question-and-answer method is used for training physicians in the art of migraine care.
The information is presented at the level of the primary-care physician with emphasis on clinical aspects. Most case histories are very informative and useful, and are memorable. The different chapters are easily read and understood and include information defining and classifying migraine, epidemiology, symptomatology, pathogenesis, trigger factors, abortive, and preventive treatment. The epidemiological section is very informative and the corresponding descriptions of visual and somatosensory aura are clinically very relevant. The chapters dealing with abortive and preventive treatment are meritoriously written and are intriguing, but are more practical from a North American than from a European perspective.
The Bibliography includes about 95 references but only five from 2001 or later. Dr Spierings is the first author of 19 of these references, of which two are abstracts and three letters. It seems that this bibliography could be updated with references that are easier to find for the intended reader.
In some sections of the book Dr Spierings gives his personal views on migraine which may not always be shared by other headache specialists, i.e. the types of headaches included in the vascular headache spectrum, the International Headache Society classification, autonomic symptoms like lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting in relation to activation of the sympathetic system, pathogenesis, and trigger factors. This of course is expected from a single-author volume.
At the end of this book, Dr Graham's lessons from 1955/1956 are very thoughtful and are still mostly clinically relevant. On the whole, this book may be a helpful complement to all those involved in the treatment of headache patients, not least migraineurs. Most headache specialists will seek more; however, this volume is not intended for that particular audience.