How to Treat Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Normal pressure hydrocephalus, also known as NPH, is a neurological disorder with symptoms that can closely mirror Alzheimer's or Parkinson's Disease. Found mostly in elderly patients, NPH can be treated through the use of shunts which are used to drain excess spinal fluid away from the brain.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Obtain a diagnosis from a qualified physician. Symptoms of NPH include dementia (memory loss and confusion), incontinence and a shuffling gait, which may be characterized by hesitation and even tremors. NPH can usually be diagnosed after a patient is non-responsive to medications used to treat Parkinson's Disease.
2. Confirm the diagnosis with a lumbar puncture. This procedure reduces fluids in the spinal cord. If draining the fluid reduces symptoms, your doctors will make arrangements to have a shunt permanently implanted in your spinal cord. The lumbar puncture may be accompanied by a CAT scan or an MRI to confirm the enlargement of ventricles in the brain and spinal column.
3. Let your doctor install a shunt in the spinal cord near the brain. A shunt allows excess fluid to travel outside the spinal cord and brain into an opening just beneath the surface of the skin, usually around the ear. The fluid can then drain into the abdominal cavity where it is absorbed and eventually flushed from the body (through either urination or perspiration).
4. Schedule regular follow-up examinations. Let your surgeon and physician track your improvement and watch for side effects that may occur when a shunt is surgically implanted. Infections, shunt closures and body rejection rates (especially if the shunt is artificial, rather than biological) are fairly common.
5. Check online resources, such as the website for the University of Pittsburgh, for more information on how to treat NPH with shunts (see Resources below). This site compares some of the newer artificial shunts, which are adjustable, with biological shunts, which are mere incisions within the body cavity.

Tips & Warnings

• NPH is often diagnosed incorrectly, since it can resemble other conditions that cause dementia. Approximately 10 percent of the dementia cases blamed on other types of degenerative neurological conditions may be NPH.