Dr. Katherine Henry, MD, at New York University School of Medicine led investigators in a four year study documenting patient exposure to dust and fumes resulting from the terror attacks. Headaches were associated with probable post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Using interviews with patients enrolled at the Bellevue Hospital WTC Environmental Health Center between March 2005 and March 2009, the researchers documented dust and fume exposure.  The collapse of the Twin Towers generated the release of pulverized and combusted material in the form of a huge dust cloud. Participants also completed questionnaires regarding PTSD symptoms. “Symptoms of anxiety, depression, and probable PTSD were strongly associated with headache after 9/11,” reported Dr. Henry. She emphasized however that prospective studies are needed to better understand the interplay between headache, mental health symptoms and dust exposure.
While this study focused solely on headache related to the WTC, frequent headaches have also been reported among disaster survivors from manmade incidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island and natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina.  We may at some point see a study relating headache to last year’s nuclear disaster in Japan….. Neurology Reviews Volume 18 Colby Stong

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