Q: On occasion, my morning is greeted with a mild headache. What is the
cause and what may I do to prevent it? The response from my last blood
pressure test was that I am like a teenager but that was many years ago.
A: We were taught in medical school that if you hear the sound of
hoofbeats, they are generally due to horses, not zebras. In other
words, common things are the most common. Your headache is more likely
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to be a simple tension type, rather than that caused by a brain tumour.
The reason that you wake up with the headache is that between the hours
of about 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., the body tends to produce less of the
natural painkillers known as encephalins than at any other time of day.
Adrenalin is also released in larger quantities during the morning
hours, especially if you are worried or stressed about something.
Adrenalin affects the dilatation or contraction of the blood vessels,
so it may also play a role in triggering migraine attacks.
There are a couple of questions that I would like to ask you to clarify
the situation. Do you drink a lot of coffee? If the headache goes away
shortly after your first cup of coffee, you may be suffering caffeine
withdrawal. The same applies to cola drinks. Do you have sleep apnea or
a stuffed up nose? Lack of oxygen can contribute to a headache. Check
that your furnace is in good condition and not leaking harmful gases
into the house.
Be particularly careful if you have a wood burning stove or fireplace
that there is sufficient ventilation. You can get carbon monoxide
detectors that will let you know if there are dangerous levels of these
gases in the house.
Sick from building?
Q: What is sick building syndrome?
A: Sick building syndrome is a condition associated with working in
certain buildings. Symptoms include itchy eyes and dry throat,
coughing, wheezing, headaches, nausea and general fatigue.
This was thought to be due to poor ventilation of the building,
chemical contamination from indoors, such as newly installed carpet or
paint, or from outdoors via external air ducts and plumbing fixtures.
It also includes illness due to bacterial contaminants of air
conditioning systems, such as Legionnaires’ disease, or problems
associated with fungi and moulds.
In most cases, symptoms improve when the person has been away from the
office for a few hours. I had this type of problem when I rented
office space adjacent to a gas station. Every time they filled up the
gas tanks, I got a headache. The only solution was to move.
A recent study by Rob Niven, a chest physician in Manchester, England,
suggests that if buildings with an artificially controlled environment
are well designed and properly maintained, there may be a healthier
internal environment than buildings ventilated with outside air. Mind
you, years ago Manchester was a polluted industrial city. Perhaps it is
cleaner now.
Clare Rowson is a medical doctor with a practice near Belleville, Ont.
Her columns are intended for general information only. Individuals are
encouraged to also seek the advice of their own doctor regarding
medical questions and treatments.
