New Delhi: "I have a splitting headache". Be it your colleague at work or your spouse at home, this has probably become one of the most often heard complaint today.

Considering the statistics - one-third of Indian women and one-fifth of Indian men suffer from migraine - the frequency is hardly of any surprise. Doctors blame lifestyle changes and stress for this literally gnawing headache and say that women suffer more than men.

At the very outset, it's important to know the difference between a headache and a migraine.

"Headache is a pain in the head region, while migraine is a type of headache. Migraine is not a disease but a syndrome. One should know that not every headache is a migraine, but a migraine can be termed as a headache," P.N. Renjen, senior consultant, neurology, at the Apollo Hospital, told IANS. Migraine is usually accompanied by a throbbing headache, photophobia and vomiting.

According to Renjen, around 30 percent of the patients he sees every day are cases related to headache and migraine.

"Women are more prone to headache and migraine because of hormonal changes in their body and the stress and strain of daily life," he said. Erratic meal timings and a bad sleep cycle are contributing factors.

"Around 75 percent of migraine sufferers are women," Manoj Khannal, consultant, neurology, at Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, told IANS. "Although the incidence of migraine is similar in boys and girls during childhood, it increases in girls after puberty. Migraine most commonly affects women in the age group of 20-45 years."

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