About Clusterbusters®
About Clusterbusters®
Mission & Values
We support research for better treatments and a cure while advocating to improve the lives of those struggling with cluster headaches.
This corporation has been organized to operate exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, including, but not limited to the following:
- To help its members find solutions to problems that exist as a result of cluster headaches.
- To educate its members about cluster headaches.
- To inform its members about research involving cluster headaches.
- To provide its members with resource materials to read and view involving cluster headaches.
- To encourage, participate in, and fund research into the causes of cluster headaches.
- To encourage, participate in, and fund research into treatments for alleviating the pain and various symptoms of cluster headaches.
- To encourage, participate in, and fund research into finding a cure for cluster headaches.
How We Got Started
History
In late 1998, a man posted a message on an internet bulletin board that he suspected LSD had prevented his usual cluster headache cycles. He had successfully experimented on himself using indole-ring hallucinogens and he posted that he planned to continue using the treatment. This idea was met at first with much skepticism as many clusterheads (as sufferers affectionately call themselves) had seen a hundred scams, crazy ideas, and misguided treatments born of desperation over the years.
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Yet upon further investigation, his claims had some scientific basis: indole-ring molecules fit well with serotonin receptors, research on LSD years ago showed it to be a very effective treatment for migraines (a related disease). Indeed, Albert Hoffman was looking for a treatment for migraines amongst other conditions when he created LSD. Historically, many cultures all over the world treated headaches with naturally occurring indole-ring hallucinogens for centuries.
As word spread of this treatment option, others tried psilocybin and also achieved excellent results. There was more discussion on the boards and research done with both of these treatments. From the board a core group of advisors and researchers emerged, to champion the cause. They developed a web site with the ponderous title “The Treatment of Vascular Headaches with Hallucinogenic Substances.”
The experiments, discussions and reports of the treatment went on through 2000 and 2001. The people involved were professionals, business owners, contractors and members of their community. Their concern using LSD and psilocybin, those being illegal drugs, became an issue and some people in sensitive positions worried about livelihoods and careers. The site was moved and Clusterbusters was created!
ClusterBusters was incorporated and registered as an IRS-approved 501 (c) (3) non-profit research and educational organization soon after, to further research into effective treatments of cluster headache.
Soon after, the medical research community started to pay attention to the success of these treatments, became involved in research and started to listen to what we had to say. This led to several encouraging events that are continuing to evolve every day.
A paper was prepared on this treatment option:
Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD
By: R. Andrew Sewell, MD, John H. Halpern, MD and Harrison G. Pope, Jr, MD
This paper was presented at the National Headache Foundation Research Summit in February 2006 and later published in Neurology as a
communication brief, NEUROLOGY 2006;66:1920-1922 link
Current Projects:
Clusterbusters has been featured in the newspapers, feature films and news stories around the world. ClusterBusters now hosts annual conferences across the U.S. to further its goals of patient education and research development. The directors of Clusterbusters are asked to present our findings at many different conferences throughout the year.
The organization has ongoing interest in conducting clinical trials of indole-ring compounds and has recently participated in the research of non-hallucinogenic treatments of cluster headache.
Through the efforts of many the future of effective treatment of cluster headache is brighter and there is more opportunity on the horizon.
About Clusterbusters Inc.
The Board of ClusterBusters Inc is comprised of 3 Directors and the Executive Director, Mr. Bob Wold. Bob has been asked to present at numerous conferences, seminars and has appeared in many newspapers, magazine articles and online reports.
Clusterbusters Recognition
Awards & Affiliations
Clusterbusters takes pride in giving cluster headache patients and their families the support and access to information necessary to manage this condition. Our organization was voted a top-rated non-profit organization by Great NonProfits for five consecutive years 2013-2017. We’ve helped countless people attend our annual patient conference and other advocacy events through our scholarships and are a vital part of pursuing and funding research on cluster headaches.
We’ve connected with other non-profits in the headache and migraine disorder spectrum to join with patients and other pain advocates to ensure our voices are heard and change is made. Some of the organizations we’re involved with include:
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– Coalition for Headache and Migraine Patients (CHAMP)
– Organisation for the Understanding Cluster Headache in the UK (OUCH-UK)
– National Headache Foundation (NHF)
– Headache and Migraine Policy Forum (HMPF)
– American Headache Society (AHS)
– Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA)
– Headache Cooperative of New England (HCNE)
– National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
– And More
Our Executive Director, Robert Wold, has given PowerPoint presentations and speeches at various conferences, symposiums, and meetings to medical professionals and patients alike including those organized by AHS, HCNE, AHDA, and Migraine World Summit. These affiliations and partnerships helped Clusterbusters better serve the patient community through sharing the realities of living with cluster headaches and how this neurological condition differs from other headache disorders. With the help of the non-profit organizations listed above and many more, we work to improve the education, treatment, and support for those diagnosed with Cluster Headache.
Clusterbusters Leaders
Directors & Team
Our Board of Directors is comprised of patient advocates with first-hand experience in cluster headaches or supporting those with the disorder. These men and women have spent years fighting to bring more awareness of this condition and are valuable members of our organization and patient community. Learn more
Media & PR
In the Media
Bob Wold and other cluster headache advocates have been featured in the media online, in print, and on camera. Cluster headaches are a fascinating condition in that they strike at the same times of the days and that seasonal changes bring on episodic cycles or end them, but what media outlets often find most interesting is psilocybin mushrooms (“magic mushrooms”) are an effective preventive and abortive treatment for the debilitating attacks.
If you’re interested in interviewing a member of Clusterbusters or have questions, contact info@clusterbusters.org and learn more about our organization in our video resources.
Contact Us
Clusterbusters Recognition
Supporters
Our non-profit organization would be nowhere without fellow cluster headache patients and other supporters of our cause for improving the lives of those with this neurological condition. For nearly 20 years, Bob Wold and our Board of Directors have tirelessly worked to promote research for new treatment options and offer a compassionate ear and shoulder to clusterheads who are struggling to survive each attack. We’ve grown from a handful of people sharing experiences on Yahoo in the 1990s to tens of thousands online today. Thank you to our supporters who have and continue to help us grow our reach to help clusterheads worldwide.
