Dr Abdul Malik becomes Pakistan's first certified physician of brain disorders

Dr Abdul Malik, a Karachi-based associate professor of neurology, has become the first certified Pakistani physician of brain-related disorders after he completed his master’s degree in “Headache Disorders” from University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Before this, no Pakistani had ever done a specialisation in the aforementioned field.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on Monday, Dr Malik said many people in Pakistan who often complain of headache are suffering from migraine.

According to a survey, he said around 10 per cent of the population have a migraine disorder in which headaches affect one half of the head.

However, he clarified that not every headache can be labelled as migraine as there are also other reasons too for the pain.

Advising people against self-medication, the association professor said headache has become a matter of routine in the society and people usually consider pain-killers as the only remedy the problem.

While warning people, he said excessive of pain killers for a longer period of time can cause serious complications including adverse impact on a person’s kidneys and liver.

Dr Malik said people don’t take headache seriously despite experiencing it frequently, urging that a person should visit the doctor if headache occur twice fortnightly after every three weeks.