The average adult in the United States consumes 200 to 300 mg of caffeine per day, according to the National Headache Foundation. Over the years, doctors and scientists have associated caffeine with a number of medical conditions, giving caffeine a bad reputation. The health professionals at the Harvard School of Medicine confirm that consuming a moderate amount of caffeine causes no health concerns. In fact, although caffeine may trigger certain types of headaches in some people, it can also help relieve headaches in others.
Types of Headaches
Although all headaches involve pain in the head, scalp or neck area, not all headaches are the same. The three main types of headaches are tension headaches, migraine headaches and cluster headaches. Caffeine doesn't seem to play any role in the onset or treatment of cluster headaches, which only affect about 1 percent of the population in the United States. Approximately 90 percent of the population in the United States suffers from tension headaches. Tension headaches cause a dull ache type of pain often felt on both sides of the head. Migraine headaches affect only about 15 percent of the population, but cause a more severe throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head, that may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light.
Mechanism of Headache
The reason some people suffer from headaches more than others remains a mystery. Doctors also cannot pinpoint the exact cause of each headache. They do understand the mechanics of what occurs during a tension or migraine headache. An environmental trigger causes a wave of electrical activity to sweep across the brain. This stimulates a surge in serotonin, a hormone in the brain that functions as a neurotransmitter, a chemical that transmits nerve signals. Serotonin causes the blood vessels to constrict. The serotonin leaks into the surrounding tissue, decreasing the level of serotonin in the brain. The blood vessels then expand and the lack of serotonin irritates the nerves in the brain, causing the pain.
Effect of Caffeine
Caffeine can directly affect the blood flow in the brain, bringing relief from your headache. Caffeine causes blood vessels to constrict. When the blood vessels in the brain constrict, the nerves become less irritated, resulting in decreased headache pain. Although caffeine can help your headache, it's not a good idea to use caffeine as headache relief on a daily basis. Your brain becomes accustomed to the caffeine and this tolerance lessens the effects. In addition, if you chronically consume large amounts of caffeine, you may experience the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal when levels begin to fall. One of the main symptoms of a caffeine withdrawal is a headache.
Caffeine in Medications
Many analgesic medications marketed to treat headaches contain caffeine. Caffeine acts as an adjuvant for pain medications, meaning it enhances the effect of the medication. Caffeine increases the absorption of analgesic medications like acetaminophen and aspirin. By increasing the absorption, caffeine increases the effects of the medication. The National Headache Foundation reports that patients who take an analgesic alone must take 40 percent more medicine to get the same relief as those who take an analgesic and caffeine combination. This makes caffeine good for your headache.
References
- Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School; Coffee Health Risks; August 2004
- American Pain Foundation: Headaches and Caffeine
- Foundation for Better Health Care: Headache
- National Headache Foundation; Headaches and Caffeine: The Cause and Effect Relationship; Navid Farahmand, Daniel Drennan
- American Headache Society; Caffeine and Migraine; R. Shapiro and R. Cowan
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