Headaches

If you're one of the 18 million Americans who suffer from migraines, you might find some relief by changing what you eat, suggests Ladies' Home Journal magazine. About 30 percent of migraines appear to be triggered by food. (Other causes include hormonal changes, stress, excessive smoking, even strong odors and bright lights.) Listed here are the most common troublemakers for people who are prone to migraines. CHOCOLATE: It contains phenylethylamine, which constricts blood vessels in the head.

NutraSweet, the popular sugar substitute that has been a center of controversy since it was allowed on the market, does not cause severe headaches, according to a new study. Researchers, whose work was financed by the National Institutes of Health and the NutraSweet Co., tested people who believed that NutraSweet, which is known generically as aspartame, gave them headaches and found they were just as likely to get headaches after consuming dummy substitutes. The conclusion of researchers at Duke University in North Carolina was the second vote of confidence for NutraSweet last week.

Flyers star defenseman Chris Pronger will visit with two Pittsburgh concussion specialists on Wednesday, and the club hopes they can explain the cause of his headaches. A local doctor on Monday said a blow to the eye - which Pronger suffered on Oct. 24 against Toronto - can cause a concussion. After taking an inadvertent stick to the eye and missing six games, Pronger returned and played five games. He was then sidelined because the team said he was suffering from a virus.

Let's be frank for a moment. It might be nice if Philadelphia hosted the 2004 Democratic National Convention. But the Dems would have to spend mighty liberally if they came here, because with its financial woes and urban wounds, the city simply cannot afford wooing and holding a convention in the near future. The city had to raise $66 million in 2000 for the GOP convention, largely with the help of potent former Gov. Tom Ridge. His successor, lame duck Gov. Schweiker, is preoccupied with a state debt and a promise of $75 million for Philadelphia schools.

About 100 people were evacuated Monday from the Acme grocery store at the Lawrence Park Shopping Center after noxious fumes caused headaches, dizziness and vomiting among customers and employees. Fourteen people reported lung and eye irritation, which was caused by an unidentified substance. Nine were taken to Mercy Haverford Hospital, of whom three were admitted for observation even though they were listed in good condition. The hospitalized adults were released yesterday morning, said hospital spokeswoman Rebecca Rabalsky.

There's a vein in Dave Hisler's right temple. Around Malvern Prep, and especially to members of the track team, it's known as "the vein. " Hisler, the Inter-Ac League's top sprinter, has asthma. When he runs, he gets pounding, vein-popping, asthma-induced migraine headaches. The harder he runs, the more his head hurts. "I'll be fine during a race and for a minute or two afterwards," Hisler said. "Then, all of a sudden, my head starts pounding. It kills me. The vein (in his temple)

Sports and concussions are a common combination. A 1991 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that 300,000 Americans had suffered a concussion involving loss of consciousness while engaged in sports or recreational activities during the previous year. The technical definition of a concussion, said Thomas Gennarelli, the Flyers' team neurosurgeon, is a "temporary disturbance of neurological function due to trauma. " Concussions occur when the head moves violently.

As she stood to speak in the Great Hall of Bryn Mawr College's M. Carey Thomas Library yesterday afternoon, graduate student Amanda Adams complained of burning in her sinuses and a headache. They are symptoms she is familiar with, she said. And she also thinks she knows the cause: studying and working in the building. She is not the only one. Shortly after renovation work was begun on cavernous Great Hall in December, students and faculty and staff members say they have been bothered by various ills, from memory loss to respiratory problems.

Elephants were trampling through Steve Skowronski's head again. His friends didn't understand and his teachers didn't believe it could be that bad. But it was. Four years of pounding. He wished he were dead. He was 12. Allison Jernigan's head was being squeezed, not trampled. It felt like a cord wrapped tighter and tighter. Her eyelids ached, her forehead throbbed. She could not get out of bed. She was 12 and she thought she would never get better. It had to be a brain tumor.

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger should have had a stirring retirement celebration before Thursday night's game against Pittsburgh, saluting a career that will undoubtedly put him into the Hall of Fame. Instead, the charade continued. Pronger attended the game at the Wells Fargo Center, sat in general manager Paul Holmgren's suite and, perhaps because he is in the process of making a comeback (wink, wink), wasn't even acknowledged on the scoreboard. Earlier Thursday, during a news conference at the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, Pronger talked about trying to make a return from post-concussion syndrome.

A month after it began, the second Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts ends Saturday with a festive street fair on South Broad Street replete with food, tunesmiths, and animatronic dinos. And, beginning Friday evening, street closures and traffic headaches. Broad Street will close at 7 p.m. Friday from Chestnut Street to South Street. Cross streets will remain open but vehicles will not be able to turn onto Broad Street. The cross streets that will close at 5 a.m. Saturday are Sansom, Moravian, Chancellor, Locust, Bach, and Spruce Streets from 13th to 15th Streets.

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger should have had a stirring retirement celebration before Thursday night's game against Pittsburgh, saluting a career that will undoubtedly put him into the Hall of Fame. Instead, the charade continued. Pronger attended the game at the Wells Fargo Center, sat in general manager Paul Holmgren's suite and, perhaps because he is in the process of making a comeback (wink, wink), wasn't even acknowledged on the scoreboard. Earlier Thursday, during a news conference at the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, Pronger talked about trying to make a return from post-concussion syndrome.

IF BRAYDON Coburn had just a little more time to settle in when he was traded to the Flyers in February 2007, he might still be able to feel the area above his left eye and across the length of his skull to the back of his head. If Scott Hartnell had not spent 2 weeks in bed when he was 19 so his retina could cease bleeding and begin to repair, he might still be scrapping in front of opponents' nets without a visor covering his eyes. Both men play with visors these days, the result of eye injuries that threatened to end their respective careers before their 25th birthdays.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting a comprehensive review of the design, manufacture, and assembly of the Boeing 787, but government officials declared the plane safe despite recent incidents including a fire and fuel leak earlier this week. Michael Huerta, the FAA administrator, said at a news conference Friday that there was nothing in the data the agency had seen to suggest the plane wasn't safe, but that the agency wanted to figure out what was behind the safety-related incidents.

MAALIK WAYNS was back at his former basketball home on Villanova's campus on Wednesday, watching the team he still could be playing for losing to the Temple Owls. Wayns was sitting with his new 76ers teammate, Evan Turner, while teammate and former Owl Lavoy Allen took in the game from near the Temple bench. While he watched, you had to wonder if it crossed Wayns' mind whether he had made the right decision to forgo his senior season at 'Nova to try his luck in the NBA. When you're a rookie in the league, unless you are finding a tremendous amount of success from the get-go, questions are as plentiful as minutes riding the bench and observing.

ATLANTIC CITY - People are still coming by the White House Sub Shop, stepping over the lumber, ignoring the closed signs, and expecting a cheesesteak. But the White House, like many iconic businesses at the Shore, not to mention a few Wawas and CVSes, is still down for the count from Sandy. "We got ripped," said owner Brian Conley. Waves of water flowing down Mississippi and Arctic Avenues flooded the cellar up to the ceiling and into the ground floor. With all its operating equipment down there - heating, electric - this landmark "Home of Submarines" - is still two weeks from reopening.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is still suffering symptoms almost a week after sustaining a concussion, including headaches, fatigue, heavy eyes, and fogginess. He has officially been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Washington Redskins, and there is no timetable for his return. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles will start in Vick's place. Vick will spend the weekend in a dark, quiet area and must avoid exercising and watching video. "He's not very alert right now in terms of he just doesn't have that energy," head trainer Rick Burkholder said.

CLOUT HAS NO IDEA if U.S. Rep. Bob Brady can accomplish his goal of a city-owned casino. But we like the odds of Brady's idea causing political consternation among elected officials. Consider the fix Mayor Nutter and City Council President Darrell Clarke are in. They are not eager for the city to compete for the casino license. But they also don't want to upset Brady, the city's Democratic Party chairman, who wants the city to make a bid for Philadelphia's second casino to be at the city-owned site of the former Food Distribution Center at Packer Avenue and 3rd Street.

YOU WOULDN'T think Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger would have anything left to prove, but according to NBA docs, taking Sullinger in the first round is a bad call. According to ESPN.com, a few doctors say Sullinger comes complete with a bad back and advised teams that drafting him in Round 1 could be risky. "He had a bulging area that was due to his hamstring and quads being so tight," Sullinger's dad, Satch, told ESPN.com. "It pulled on his hip flexor and he's been taking care of it to loosen it. Call it a red flag if you want.

Dear Harry: My husband bought a new car back in 1996. Because of some misunderstanding, it was unjustly repossessed in 1997. It was later resold by the dealer. After that, we heard nothing about any liability we had until last week. At that time, a collection agency called us to to say that there was a deficiency when the car was sold, and we still owed about $1,000 plus collection costs. This collector is calling us regularly now and is even threatening to sue us. We thought that the whole thing was settled by the repossession years ago. These calls are getting very nasty, and we never knew of a debt remaining on the car. Isn't there some limitation on the time they can come after us?