UT prof studies headaches
IC Staff
Issue date: 1/29/07 Section: News
One of the three women in the country who are chairwomen of their department, Gretchen Tietjan, chairwoman of the UT Neurology Department and a professor of neurology, recently had an article published in the Neurology 2007 medical journal. The article linked the effects of headache and depression.
It all started about 10 years ago when Tietjan and a nurse with whom she was working would hear their female patients' complaints about headaches. Tietjan and her colleague began to see a common theme between the women who had headaches and the stories the patients told about their difficult childhoods.
"I talked to other colleagues in more detail about childhood trauma and childhood abuse," Tietjan said.
"In our study of female headache clinic patients, somatic symptoms and depression were common. One-third of our study population had high somatic symptom severity," Tietjan and colleagues' Neurology 2007 medical journal article said.
High frequencies of depressive disorder and somatic symptoms, or physical symptoms that mimic physical illness and occur at times of psychological stress were associated with chronic headache, according to the journal article.
The research project started in 2002, according to Tietjan.
"This project was the first large-scale clinic project to look at migraines, depression and somatic symptoms and explore in detail the associations," Tietjan said.
"The research is something that I enjoy about my job," Tietjan said.
"You have to be focused on what your goals are," Tietjan said, who became chairwoman of the neurology department at the age of 40.
Most women in the medical field are in private practice, and not in the academic research arena, Tietjan said.
"This project was done in conjunction with a number of co-authors for six different centers, all part of the American Headache Society section on Women's Issues," Teitjan said.
According to Tietjan, the next step is to design better treatment plans for headache sufferers.
It all started about 10 years ago when Tietjan and a nurse with whom she was working would hear their female patients' complaints about headaches. Tietjan and her colleague began to see a common theme between the women who had headaches and the stories the patients told about their difficult childhoods.
"I talked to other colleagues in more detail about childhood trauma and childhood abuse," Tietjan said.
"In our study of female headache clinic patients, somatic symptoms and depression were common. One-third of our study population had high somatic symptom severity," Tietjan and colleagues' Neurology 2007 medical journal article said.
High frequencies of depressive disorder and somatic symptoms, or physical symptoms that mimic physical illness and occur at times of psychological stress were associated with chronic headache, according to the journal article.
The research project started in 2002, according to Tietjan.
"This project was the first large-scale clinic project to look at migraines, depression and somatic symptoms and explore in detail the associations," Tietjan said.
"The research is something that I enjoy about my job," Tietjan said.
"You have to be focused on what your goals are," Tietjan said, who became chairwoman of the neurology department at the age of 40.
Most women in the medical field are in private practice, and not in the academic research arena, Tietjan said.
"This project was done in conjunction with a number of co-authors for six different centers, all part of the American Headache Society section on Women's Issues," Teitjan said.
According to Tietjan, the next step is to design better treatment plans for headache sufferers.
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