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Aim. Headache is one of the most common diseases associated with Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs). The aim of this study was to evaluate, retrospectively, if headache influences TMD’s symptoms. Material and Methods. A total sample of 1198 consecutive TMD patients was selected. After a neurological examination, a diagnosis of headache, according to the latest edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, was performed in 625 subjects. Patients were divided into two groups based on presence/absence of headache: Group with Headache (GwH) and Group without Headache (GwoH). Descriptive statistics and Chi-square index were performed. Results. Sociodemographic (gender, marital status, and occupation) and functional factors, occlusion (occlusal and skeletal classes, dental formula, and occlusal abnormalities), and familiar pain did not show a statistically significant correlation in either group. Intensity and frequency of neck pain, arthralgia of TMJ, and myalgia showed higher correlation values in GwH. Conclusion. This study is consistent with previous literature in showing a close relationship between headache and TMD. All data underlines that headache makes pain parameters more intense and frequent. Therefore, an early and multidisciplinary treatment of TMDs should be performed in order to avoid the overlay of painful events that could result in pain chronicity.

A previous clinical trial evidenced, in patients affected by migraine without aura, that treatment with medicinal product STRESSEN determined a reduction of homocysteinemia and an improved general state of health, also if the protocol had not provided for the latter evaluation. The aim of this study is to confirm, in a similar population, the efficacy of STRESSEN on hyperhomocysteinemia and to control the psycho-physical state of the patients by means of specific parameters.20 hyperhomocysteinemic (15 micromol/ 1) patients suffering from psycho-physical stress and migraine without aura were enrolled. The efficacy of a 30 days treatment with STRESSEN was evaluated through dosage of this amino acid and through a questionnaire on the general state of health.Homocysteinemia was reduced of 52.1% (P0.001) and the score representing the general state of health decreased from 1.63 +/- 0.38 to 0.78 +/- 0.12 (P0.001).This study supported the effectiveness of STRESSEN treatment to restore physiological profile of homocysteinemia and to improve the psycho-physical conditions, usually altered by stress for which the drug is already indicated.

Elevated plasma concentrations of homocysteine may occur because of impaired metabolism of this amino acid as a result of genetic factors or can be attributed to inadeguate blood levels of folate and vitamin B12. Recent studies demonstrated that STRESSEN decreases homocysteinemia more than the above mentioned vitamins do, as reported in literature; this behaviour could be due to the presence in the drug of arginine glutamate, whose specific activity, in comparison with STRESSEN, is here evaluated.The trial was carried out on 20 patients with hyperhomocysteinemia (15 micromol/l) and affected by migraine without aura; 10 subjects have received STRESSEN and 10 arginine glutamate. After 30 days of treatment, homocysteinemia was evaluated.Reduction of blood concentration of this amino acid was 56.3% (P0.001) after STRESSEN therapy and 27.0% (P0.001) after arginine glutamate.Obtained results show, for the first time, the efficacy of arginine glutamate on homocysteinemia and strengthen the hypotesis that STRESSEN activity is due to all its components, including arginine glutamate that itself acts on this parameter.

A controlled study was done with the aim of assessing the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) in cluster headache and of studying the possible influence of this therapeutic approach on serotonergic pathways. Fourteen patients, aged between 26 and 56 yr, suffering from the chronic form of cluster headache were treated with HBO2 (n = 10) or environmental air (placebo) ( n = 4) during the 15 sessions of exposure (lasting 30 min each) in the hyperbaric chamber. The influence of this procedure on serotonergic pathways of pain was monitored by means of study of serotonin binding to mononuclear cells before and after the treatment for both subgroups. All of the treated 14 chronic cluster headache patients completed the study. In the subgroup treated with the placebo, no particular modifications on the number of attacks and of analgesic consumption as well as no change in the specific binding curve of serotonin to mononuclear cells were observed, whereas in the subgroup treated with HBO2 the clinical effectiveness and the appearance of plateau in the binding curves indicated that the oxygen therapy could act through serotonergic pathways.

Fourty-eight cluster headache patients have been studied. Twenty-nine of them were affected also by rhythm cardiac abnormalities, and the other 19 by associated conjunctival hyperaemia. The presence of organ-specific autoantibodies was investigated by immunofluorescence. High titers of antibodies against cardiac antigenic determinants was found. The study of leukocyte subpopulations revealed a parallel increase in blood and in conjunctival mucosa of Leu7+ and LeuM3+ cells. These outcomes confirm the immunopathological theory of cluster headache.

Thirteen patients affected by Burkitt's lymphoma were studied. Six out of them had cluster headache associated with Burkitt's lymphoma, and in this group we observed the absence of HLA-B14 antigen. The presence of HLA-B14 antigen in the remaining seven patients, confirm the hypothesis of a protective role of this antigen against cluster headache.

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