PARKERSBURG - If people are having an unusually strong and sudden headache unlike anything they have experienced before, they might want to get themselves evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible as they might be having a brain aneurysm.

Following the death of local sports announcer Steve Daugherty due to an unexpected aneurysm earlier this month, the condition has jumped to the forefront of many people's attention in the community.

An aneurysm is an outpouching, or balloon-like structure, that develops at the junction between arterial blood vessels in the brain, said Dr. Abdi Ghodsi, a neurosurgeon with PARS Neurosurgical Associates in Parkersburg.

Where the vessel divides into two different vessels, blood hits that wall and makes it weak at that junction.

''It starts to balloon out,'' Dr. Ghodsi said. ''It balloons out and if it gets big enough, the very tip can rupture and burst blood into the brain fluid spaces.

''That is called an aneurysm rupture, or a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and that is a very serious condition.''

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation, based in Boston, reports brain aneurysms can occur in anyone, at any age. An estimated three million to six million people in the United States have an unruptured brain aneurysm. Each year, about 32,000 people in the U.S. will suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm.

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation is dedicated to providing awareness, education, support and research funding to reduce the incidence of brain aneurysms.

September is National Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month to raise awareness of the dangers of brain aneurysms and increase public awareness and understanding of brain aneurysms, including methods of early detection and treatment.

Risk factors for a brain aneurysm include family history as well as smoking and hypertension.

''Those people have a little bit higher risk of developing an aneurysm,'' Ghodsi said. ''They do seem to run in families.''

Many people have aneurysms and don't see any negative impacts from them.

''A lot of the population has aneurysms,'' Ghodsi said. ''In fact, if you take 100 people on the street and randomly look at them, three to four would have had an aneurysm, but many will not know about it, because it will never rupture, they will never have symptoms from it and they will be fine.''

Studies done with autopsies have shown aneurysms were found on people that had been there for a long time, never ruptured and never gave them problems, he said.

The chance of it rupturing and causing more extensive problems rises 1-2 percent a year.

''The question is how to best treat that,'' Ghodsi said.

Sometimes, they will just monitor it and see if it changes, he said, adding he has patients he has been monitoring for years who have not seen any changes in it.

If the patient is younger, Ghodsi is more inclined to treat it, because the risk for rupture builds up every year.

''With younger people, I tend to be more aggressive in treating it,'' he said.

After an aneurysm is found through scans or other tests, a doctor can determine the next step depending on its severity.

Surgery is the traditional option with an operation on the skull to find the aneurysm and put a clip on the neck of it.

''The clip cuts off the buildup and the wall of the vessel is good again and blood flows in the right direction and does not go inside the aneurysm,'' Ghodsi said. ''If you get the clip in the right place, it is almost 100 percent.''

Over the last 15 years, another procedure, called coiling, has been used more and more. It is done through the blood vessels and into the aneurysm where a doctor packs it with small coils.

As the coils are put in, it begins to clot and cuts off the blood flow to the aneurysm. The doctor accesses the veins in the groin to reach the aneurysm. It does not require operating on the skull. Coiling is not done locally and patients are usually sent to Morgantown.

Both procedures have their risks.

''Once the aneurysm ruptures that is a whole other ballgame,'' Ghodsi said. ''Now you have a serious problem and you have to take care of it.

''We usually operate on them within the first 24 to 48 hours after it has ruptured. There is a significant risk of rebleeding once it has ruptured.''

The ruptured blood could be in the brain which can cause spasms in the blood vessels, strokes and seizures as well as contribute to fluid buildup in the brain.

''Many of these patients are very sick and can be in the hospital for up to three weeks and in the ICU for most of that time,'' Ghodsi said. ''They are probably the sickest patients we see in neurosurgery. The mortality rate is about 50 percent with 25 percent surviving and doing very well and the other 25 percent surviving and having some neurological problems.''

Medications and other measures can control many of the problems.

Early recognition of the symptoms can help people get to the hospital for a quicker evaluation and action.

''If someone is having a really bad and unusual headache and that is unusual for them, that needs to be checked out,'' Ghodsi said. ''Get to the hospital immediately. Many people describe it as a 'thunderclap' headache and it can include nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck. You need to go and get evaluated.''