www.perpetualcommotion.com
"Give with a free hand, but give only your own."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien The Children of Hurin
- Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus -
General Information:
Names:
Wikipedia entry:
Dr. Ray Shahelien entry:
********************************************************************************************
Observations:
NPH (Normal Pressure
Hydrocephalus)
See also
CCSVI
Fluid in the ventricals (cavities) of the brain is not removed
as it should causing the cavities to expand and press on the
surrounding brain tissue. This causes a host of mental
problems that can be confused with AD or vascular
dementia. However, NPH is treatable with a shunt to carry
away the fluid and restore normal pressure. Unfortunately,
most physicians don't look for this since it only affects about
5% of dementia suffers, and may not realize that this is the
problem until too much damage has occured. I must thank my
mother in law for showing me an article about this disease that
she cut out of the June 1, 2007 issue of Womans Day
magazine. If not for her, I would never have known about
it. Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago I had a chance to
ask a woman who lives a few houses down the street from me about
the condition of her mother. We had found her wandering
the streets a couple of time a few years ago, and were told that
she had AD. It turns out that a observant radiologist
noticed that she in fact had NPH! All those years
she had been treated for AD. But, much damage had been
done by the time they put in the shunt. Even though her
symptoms did improve, she subsequently had a bad fall that cause
serious head trauma, and she isn't doing so well.
Recently, I read an article that said that researchers had
determined that injury to brain tissue could lead to AD.
The damaged and dying cells cause amyloid beta plaques to
form. The amyloid beta plaques are toxic to the healthy
surrounding brain cells, and cause them to expire. This
domino effect, if left unchecked, can lead to full blown
AD. An interesting thought is, for people who have had a
brain injury due to either stroke or head trauma, if a substance
was administered that prevented the accumulation of amyloid
beta, or even dissolved it, or at least made it non-toxic, would
that be enough to halt the progression of injury related
AD? Hmmm. Perhaps it would be a good idea to give
brain injury patients 300 to 500 mg of curcumin on an
empty stomach every day just to be on the safe side. Since
curcumin has no known side effects, is derived from the curry
spice turmeric, and is not expensive; if there is a chance it
works as well on humans as it does on mice, then it certainly
would be a prudent thing to do.
In many countries with socialized medicine (such as Germany),
there is an emphasis on diagnostics to determine who would be
likely candidates for a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (i.e. a tube
from the cavity in the brain to the gut). There is no
limit to the demand for healthcare, so there must some way to
ration it. In the U.S., it is rationed by who can pay for
it. In socialist countries, it is rationed by how valuable
the recipient is to the state. So, there is a lot of
literature about how to diagnose NPH based on if the patient's
symptoms improve during testing. Not much, if anything,
about how to halt the progressive decline of someone already
suffering from the condition.
It is interesting to note that there is some disagreement about
the root cause of the disease. Most articles you will read
mention the "reabsorption of the CSF by the subarachnoid villi",
yet research shows that it is in fact the capillaries that do
the absorbing. Perhaps idiopathic (without a known cause)
is actually a manifestation of high blood pressure, and could be
treated in a similar manner???
********************************************************************************************
Known sources:
********************************************************************************************
Natural sources:
********************************************************************************************
References:
NPH
(Normal
Pressure
Hydrocephalus)
Management of Normal Pressure
Hydrocephalus
MEG VERREES, M.D., and WARREN R. SELMAN, M.D.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
"Gait instability, urinary incontinence, and dementia are the
signs and
symptoms typically found in patients who have normal pressure
hydrocephalus. Estimated to cause no more than 5 percent of cases of
dementia, ...
often is treatable... Magnetic resonance imaging or computed
tomography
typically demonstrates ventricular dilation with preservation of
the
surrounding brain tissue. ... normal pressure hydrocephalus ...
leading
to an increase in ventricular size and encroachment of enlarged
ventricles on adjacent brain tissue. The pressure exerted ...
deforms
white matter tracts, instigating gait abnormalities and
incomplete
control of the bladder, as well as difficulties in processing
incoming
stimulation and in producing expeditious responses..."
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20040915/1071.html
What is NPH?
"Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus is a neurological condition which
normally occurs in adults 55-years and older. NPH is an
accumulation of
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) causing the ventricles of the brain to
enlarge, in turn, stretching the nerve tissue of the brain
causing a
triad of symptoms."
http://www.lifenph.com/
Paradigm shift in
hydrocephalus
research in legacy of Dandy’s pioneering work: rationale for
third
ventriculostomy in communicating hydrocephalus
Dan Greitz
Department of Neuroradiology, MR Research Center, Karolinska
University
Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract
Objective
"This study aims to question the generally accepted
cerebrospinal fluid
(CSF) bulk flow theory suggesting that the CSF is exclusively
absorbed
by the arachnoid villi and that the cause of hydrocephalus is a
CSF
absorption deficit. In addition, this study aims to briefly
describe
the new hydrodynamic concept of hydrocephalus and the rationale
for
endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in communicating
hydrocephalus."
Critique
"The bulk flow theory has proven incapable of explaining the
pivotal
mechanisms behind communicating hydrocephalus. Thus, the theory
is
unable to explain why the ventricles enlarge, why the CSF
pressure
remains normal and why some patients improve after ETV."
Hydrodynamic concept of hydrocephalus
"Communicating hydrocephalus is caused by decreased intracranial
compliance increasing the systolic pressure transmission into
the brain
parenchyma. The increased systolic pressure in the brain
distends the
brain towards the skull and simultaneously compresses the
periventricular region of the brain against the ventricles. The
final
result is the predominant enlargement of the ventricles and
narrowing
of the subarachnoid space. The ETV reduces the increased
systolic
pressure in the brain simply by venting ventricular CSF through
the
stoma. The patent aqueduct in communicating hydrocephalus is too
narrow
to vent the CSF sufficiently."
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1849423
********************************************************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Home
Preface Brain Failure Notes Notes II
References pg. 1 References pg. 2
Nutritional Alternatives
Patricia's Protocol
Tauopathy
Discussion
Forum
Correspondence Newsletters Poems Memory Enhancement
********************************************************************************************
Questions or comments, contact "perpetualcommotion.com" at gmail.com
Updated: July 2, 2012
Inception: July 2, 2012