Interesting…I wonder if this is tested for when they see people who might have dementia?

It looks like Alzheimer’s or sometimes Parkinson’s, but hundreds of thousands of older people may be suffering from a condition that is completely reversible: water on the brain.

KMBC’s Bev Chapman reported that by some estimates, as many as 250,000 people may suffer from the illness and they don’t even know it. Chapman talked with two women who thought they were headed for wheelchairs and nursing homes. But the women want others to know it may not be as bad as it looks.

“I could not walk without holding on,” Joy Cottrell said. “Then I graduated to a cane.”

“I fell in the hospital and broke my ribs twice,” Marion Price said. “I just said, ‘Well, I’m 82 years old, what can I expect?’”

But it turns out their condition had nothing to do with age. They were diagnosed with water on the brain, also known as Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

“It’s not a condition that is commonly seen and it’s probably under diagnosed,” Dr. Arthur Dick said.

Dick said that is because fluid that builds up, stretches nerve tissues in the brain, causing difficulty walking, dementia and in later stages, incontinence, which are symptoms commonly associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

The women Chapman talked with could hardly walk until doctors implanted a shunt to drain the water.

“It drains the fluid into the abdoninal cavity,” Dick said.

“The next day, with a nurse beside me, I could walk without holding on,” Cottrell said.

“It was a miracle. I can’t say anything, but it was a miracle. That’s all,” Price said.

Chapman said that NPH normally occurs in adults 55 and older. The procedure is not effective for people who have suffered symptoms for many years. That is why it is important to talk to a neurologist and get a diagnosis early.

There are risks associated with brain surgery for people at any age. Only you and your doctor can determine if the procedure is right. Cottrell and Price said that family support was the key to getting them to try brain surgery.