The new classification of headaches will be briefly described. The main primary headaches are migraine with and without aura, tension-type headache and cluster headache. The operational diagnostic criteria for migraine with aura, migraine without aura and episodic tension-type headache will be presented. After this the clinical pictures of migraine with aura (previously classic migraine) and migraine without aura (previously common migraine) will be described. At last the current concepts concerning pathophysiology, regional cerebral blood flow changes, changes in extra- and intracranial arteries and mechanisms of action of ergotamine and sumatriptan will be presented.