AUDIOBOOK
The Headache
The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction-and a Search for Relief
Tom Zeller Jr.4.5
(2)
About
For the many millions of headache sufferers and fans of Mary Roach, Siddartha Mukerjee, and Ed Yong, a deeply reported, sometimes harrowing, and frequently humorous journey into the author's own excruciating headaches, and the science behind these surprisingly mysterious disorders that may, finally, offer relief.
Virtually everyone has experienced a headache—a nuisance arising from occasional stress or as payback for last night's overindulgence. But for hundreds of millions of people, there are headaches, and then there are headaches. From blinding migraines to severe headaches known as “clusters,” chronic head pain can upend entire seasons of life. And perhaps owing to the ordinariness of the very word “headache,” these disorders are frequently trivialized.
In The Headache, veteran science journalist Tom Zeller Jr. takes readers on an odyssey both intimate and panoramic, through his own decades-long struggle with cluster headaches and across the scientific landscape of a group of disorders that are—to the chagrin of sufferers—as much a curse as a cultural punchline. He visits cutting-edge clinics; interviews dozens of doctors, neurologists, and fellow headache patients; participates in clinical trials for multi-million-dollar new medicines; and even experiments with psilocybin in search of relief. Along the way, Zeller traces the longer arc of mystery around headaches, from prehistoric skull surgery to Virginia Woolf's assertion that, in the throes of a migraine, “language runs dry,” to reveal how headaches became one of the most under-researched afflictions in medicine—and how that is slowly starting to change.
With warmth, wit, and infectious curiosity, Zeller's search for the origins of his own headaches becomes a journey into the inner workings of the human nervous system, and an illuminating look at the nature of pain itself.
Virtually everyone has experienced a headache—a nuisance arising from occasional stress or as payback for last night's overindulgence. But for hundreds of millions of people, there are headaches, and then there are headaches. From blinding migraines to severe headaches known as “clusters,” chronic head pain can upend entire seasons of life. And perhaps owing to the ordinariness of the very word “headache,” these disorders are frequently trivialized.
In The Headache, veteran science journalist Tom Zeller Jr. takes readers on an odyssey both intimate and panoramic, through his own decades-long struggle with cluster headaches and across the scientific landscape of a group of disorders that are—to the chagrin of sufferers—as much a curse as a cultural punchline. He visits cutting-edge clinics; interviews dozens of doctors, neurologists, and fellow headache patients; participates in clinical trials for multi-million-dollar new medicines; and even experiments with psilocybin in search of relief. Along the way, Zeller traces the longer arc of mystery around headaches, from prehistoric skull surgery to Virginia Woolf's assertion that, in the throes of a migraine, “language runs dry,” to reveal how headaches became one of the most under-researched afflictions in medicine—and how that is slowly starting to change.
With warmth, wit, and infectious curiosity, Zeller's search for the origins of his own headaches becomes a journey into the inner workings of the human nervous system, and an illuminating look at the nature of pain itself.
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Reviews
"Narrator George Newbern's warm, conversational tone reflects the author's empathy for fellow headache sufferers. Tom Zeller Jr. argues that the headache is a common yet misunderstood malady that doesn't get enough funding for medical research. Often, it isn't taken seriously--as shown in the common expression "just a headache." Newbern is patient, and his phrasing is always excellent, so when Zeller delves into the science, the lay listener is engaged and swept along. The descriptions of Zeller's debilitating cluster headaches sound absolutely miserable, making his occasional desperate forays into psychedelic mushrooms and shady doctors seem entirely reasonable. Next time someone says they have a headache, you might be a bit more patient--and that seems like a positive outcome. A.B. � AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine"
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