It's a hard life being a boy wizard, even harder if you suffer from childhood headache. So, imagine how it must feel being Harry Potter. Dr Fred Sheftell and Dr Timothy Steiner (with the assistance of teenage Potter fan Hallie Thomas) have a good idea of just how headache has affected the young wizard, and report their findings in the latest issue of Headache.

Harry has suffered from recurrent, short-lasting but intense and disabling headaches since just before his 11th birthday. In every case the site of pain has been around the lightning bolt scar of his forehead. A total of nine headaches have been documented in the Harry Potter books; initially the only symptoms were headache but as Harry has become older he has started to experience nausea, vomiting, visual disturbances and lacrimation (watering eyes). The authors conclude that Harry suffers from probably migraine, that is, he has most of the diagnostic criteria for migraine, apart from one.

However, Harry does make rapid recoveries from his headaches, with the assistance of magical powers. As the authors comment: "perhaps it is not surprising that a classification constructed by Muggles failed to consider this."

While the paper seems a light-hearted look at the impact of headache on a fictional character, it makes a serious point regarding the wider problem of headache in children and adolescents. "In the Muggle worlds, the burden of child and adolescent headache is often of under-recognized importance; as in adults, it is very often under-treated."

Indeed, estimates of one-year prevalence of headache in the Muggle population suggest 58-80% of children and adolescents aged between 7 and 15 years are affected by headache, with 3.6-12% suffering migraines. Headache, in particular migraines, can have an adverse effect on the lives of young sufferers, impacting on concentration, school performance and attendance.

However, the authors add: "headache need not be a curse for Muggles or Wizards: it can be lifted with research, better to understand it, and education, better to manage it."

_{Sheftell F, Steiner TJ, Thomas H. Harry Potter and the curse of headache. Headache 207; 47: 911-916.}

What the WHA thinks

• This is an entertaining, sideways look at an often over-looked problem, childhood headache.
• By examining the headaches of one of the world's most popular fictional characters, just ahead of the publication of his final book, the authors have been able to highlight the impact headache can have on children and demonstrated how the nature of headache can evolve over time in children and adolescents.
• However, unlike Harry, most sufferers don't have the benefit of magical powers to shorten the duration of attack!