Doctors believe they may have found an effective treatment for the most disabling forms of cluster headaches, which can cause excruciating bouts of pain.

Efforts to help sufferers have not been very successful so far. Many people take daily medication to limit the frequency and severity of the headaches. Deep brain stimulation appeared effective, but there proved to be a risk of fatal brain haemorrhage. Doctors from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, in London, with University of California colleagues, report today in an online article in the Lancet that they successfully trialled a technique involving stimulation of the occipital nerve using implanted electrodes. Eight patients at the London hospital had electrodes implanted in their head and neck and were given remote controls to adjust the pulses. Six of the eight later said they would recommend the therapy to other sufferers. It took weeks or months before they noticed an improvement but they said the headaches returned almost immediately after the batteries ran out.

Peter J Goadsby, a professor at the National Hospital, said the technique "could begin a new era of neurostimulation therapy for primary headache symptoms".