People with cluster headaches miss twice as much work as those without the condition

Cluster headaches — recurrent severe headaches that typically occur on one side of the head — can be disruptive, and a new study finds that those who experience them may miss up to twice as many work days than others. Researchers compared a cohort of more than 3,200 people ages 16-64 in Sweden treated for cluster headaches with 16,200 people who didn’t get the headaches. Patients with the illness took more than 63 sick and disability days — those in the comparison group took 34 such days. Women took twice as many sick days than men, and those with an elementary education took double the time compared to those with a college degree. Some caveats: The findings establish an association and the authors only included those who took more than two weeks of time off.