Talk:Hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus in animals

hydrocephalus occurs in animals also but this article does not mention it ?. Hydrocephalus happens to kittens when they are about 3 weeks old, when damage is caused to their head by which their skull cracks and water starts accumulating, instead of healing

Donations

Should there be a listing of places for donations in this article in an encyclopedia? --Alex.tan 04:00, 28 Oct 2003 (UTC)

No, there shouldn't. Deleted. Vicki Rosenzweig 04:03, 28 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Treatment vs. "Cure"

While the article mentioned treatment of hydrocephalus per se, it has been thought in the past that treatment=cure. It doesn't, of course. It was thought that after my series of shunt "revisions" in the late 1960's that I was a "normal" person and had no excuse for having problems. It was believed that any problems would go away following a revision. Please understand that this is not the case with a great number of people with hydrocephalus. For myself, I will always have trouble with memory and concentration. A neurosurgeon admitted that nothing can be done for my limited peripheral vision - not even eyeglasses or surgery. In a "time is money" world it is difficult for me to hold a real paying job. My memory capacity is too poor to survive in college or university. I had to struggle considerably to escape high school (it was "expected" of me). Some with hydrocephalus have a harder time than I do. Some will have an easier time that I can only dream of. We're not all alike. But please, don't confuse being "treated" as being "cured". Some people do that and it's very discouraging.

Ûgly (at-sign) frîgΗτεÑŠΤÊÌΝ (dot) ÇΘΜ

Agreed! Sdsures (talk) 15:24, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

I know almost exactly how you feel! I've heard that all my life about how I use my shunt as an excuse for my memory, walking, hand coordination, etc. People need to know about Hydrocephalus especially in this day & age when we live in such an insensitive society! ~EgyptKEW9~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by EgyptKEW9 (talk • contribs) 19:26, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Agreed

I would whole-heartedly agree with the statement above, I've had a great many revisions, 42 at the last count, I have however managed to gain an honours degree, but of course, at the final hurdle forgotten a great many details and gained a lower grade than expected. The thing I would like to point out is this, I, like many people with hydrocephalus or indeed any other "unseen" but yet serious disabling conditions, have suffered from ignorance or mistust because of a great many aspects of my condition, particularly memory function, in time I like many other people with these conditions have wondered why, although I continue to be treated in hospital for an incredibly serious condition why I am in some way seen as different and less tolerated than those of more obvious ailments, unfortunatly thus is life, and such the human condition.

Daz darren (at-sign) hotmail (dot) com

Jargon

As a layman (albeit an erudite one), this article wasn't the easiest to understand. For one thing, whoever wrote it didn't seem to think that it was important to very quickly state the symptoms of this disease, which he or she or they only slipped into "Clinical Presentation." For this very reason, I think that the symptoms should have their own section, split away from "Clinical Presentation." Otherwise, this article is only good for medical-school students. Perhaps I am the first non-medical-school enrollee to have read this article; I only looked it up because I had read that author Roald Dahl's son had it, and I wanted to know exactly what this disease was. Consider making this article more "accessible" to laymen. I understand "intercranial pressure" and all that, but people will want somewhat simpler terms and will want to know sooner in the article what the symptoms are.66.214.230.155 19:43, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree, but not everyone agrees with me. JFW | T@lk 13:22, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree; I came to this page specifically to make a comment in line with the above. I came here looking for information and had to struggle through lots of very dense text to figure out which parts contained the info I wanted to know.

I don't mind so much if articles on more esoteric, theoretical subjects, such as my own avocation, linguistics, go a little heavier into the jargon; if you find yourself wanting to know about agglutinative languages, you've dug your own grave. But health topics, it seems to me, need to be more accessible to a wider audience, because they are very relevant to family, friends, etc., of the afflicted. --Rschmertz 03:22, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

I think listing the symptoms involved would be a good idea, but there are so many variations - how would they be categorized? Shunt malfunction (which could encompass under- or over-drainage), shunt failure, catheter lengething, catheter obstruction...? How to describe and categorize the headache, and differentiate it from other headaches? Listing the symptoms of hydro complications would be very beneficial to family members who are perhaps only experiencing this for the first time, and go surfing online in a panic. I would start this section myself if I had any idea how to go about it. Sdsures (talk) 18:45, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Picture

I found this really pretty interesting picture of a full skeleton of a hydrocephalic man from the early 20th century (at Image:Hydrocephalic_skeleton.jpg), but I hesitate to add it to the article because the skeleton itself looks somewhat odd (the torso, in particular, seems highly distorted). I'm worried that it wouldn't be representative, but I admittedly know next to nothing about the illness. Does anyone else think it has value in the article? --Fastfission 16:34, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

It's not 100% clear, but I get the focal point. Trust me, I used to have hydrocephalus when I was a baby.TimHowardII 09:38, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

A more representative picture might be a CT scan or MRI of a brain affected with hydrocephalus, in my opinion. That way it's not just associated with 'large head=hydrocephalus'. Of course, no one brain scan is representative of hydrocephalus, any more than one skull is.Kiwispam84 (talk) 03:33, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

The laypeople I have encountered often seemed to think that having hydrocephalus automatically means you also have other conditions that go along with it - spina bifida, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, to name a few - and the layperson also seems to know little of these conditions beyond the steretypical case of the spastic drooler. So introducing a picture of a mangled skeleton might not be as objective.Sdsures (talk) 18:48, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

From the Greek

As someone with hydrocephalus, I was always told that the term was from the Greek for water on the brain, as opposed to the article's phrasing, "water head". Am I just the recepient of a sloppy translation, or is the article's version poorly done? -Fsotrain09 01:21, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, you were told wrong. Where did the person who misinformed you get the preposition on and the word the? hydro = water, cephalon = brain/head. --Storkk 12:21, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

That was not very kindly put! In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary gives "water on the brain" as the correct phrase. So on who told you wrong!? 79.213.78.95 (talk) 14:38, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Roughly translated

Yes, it does mean "Water Head", or rather "Water Brain", bare in mind the greek knowledge of the skull head and the brain were all mixed up into one, but effectivly yeah, Hydro-water Cephalus-Head/brain

I understand the whole lack of a Greek distinction there, but I'm just wondering about how the translation is phrased. Is there a reference for the "water head" interpretation? -Fsotrain09 22:57, 31 May 2006 (UTC)yajaira

Check this out

http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/science/is_the_brain_really_necessary.htm --Ifrit 16:18, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I've worked with a couple of greek people in the past, generally it's pronounced "hyd-Lo-Seph-Alee" oviously not spelt like that but from a spoken point thats how it's pronouced by greek speakers anyway

--h0ckeyd 13:01, 11 June 2006 (BST)

inappropriate tone tag

I added a tag, reflecting that I think this article is very informally written. I changed one "hasn't" to "has not", but there are less tangible points that also hurt its formality. --Storkk 12:21, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I think the tone of this article is a bit odd, as well. In my opinion, it's on the pessimistic side, and could use many more details.Kiwispam84 (talk) 03:35, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Removed sentence

• The U.S. government spends less than $1 per person with hydrocephalus per year for research, while more than $300 is spent per person with juvenile diabetes per year.

This comparison needs to be rewritten so it doesn't sound like a sales pitch. In addition, it's uncited. If ppl think that there is something unfair going on and research is underfunded, quote someone who says this. It would go better than the above statement and would avoid pov-ish language. --DanielCD 22:59, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Suggested Edits

I noticed a few things reading through this article tonight. I'd have started work on it myself, but I'm too tired. I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus when I was ten months old, so hah, 25 years ago.

1. one The article states that shunts have remained unchanged since their creation in 1960. This is obviously false, even if minor modifications are ignored. There are now shunts with programmable valves so that the CSF pressure can be controlled nonsurgically.
2. two This may be a question of semantics, but I consider the ETV surgery a 'cure' for hydrocephalus. One is no longer shunt dependent anyway. Crazyniece 07:12, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

ETV isnt a cure, really it's not, for a start, because I have slit ventricles, ETV is out of the question and also, I've met many people who hvae had ETV done and still require re-shunting....so no, there is no "solid" cure...also, I have had several "programmable" shunts, and most have failed more miserably thant the non-programmable ones. H0ckeyd 17:05, 11 January (UTC)

^^^^ I have a similar case. ETV was out of the question for me, and I have slit ventricles with overdrainage symptoms. My shunt is tied off, I have undergone heavy-duty migraine treatments, but I still have headaches. Technically, the word "hydrocephalus" no longer accurately describes my condition, but I still tell every doctor I encounter that it is in my history. And I still have severe headaches and a tied-off shunt.Sdsures (talk) 18:50, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Wow, I had it as a complication from a botched operation earlier due to a blood clot when I was a baby 21 years ago. I have minor hearing loss, my right hand is very weak in terms of precision hand control (so I'm left-handed, but I could be genetically left-handed from my uncle, so I'm never sure of that). But the shunt worked well, though it was nothing but a tube and a pump. The thing is useless when I was 6, and after I'm done with physio for my right hand, I had a checkup and said I am cured. The apparatus stays within me, and it is still a little uncomfortable when I need to turn my head or when I have a scarf around my neck, but for the most part, it's not a problem.TimHowardII 09:49, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Crazyniece, I agree with your #1 point 100%!Kiwispam84 (talk) 03:37, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

History

The history section needs considerable expansion. Unfortunately, I've filed away somewhere all the research I did in college, but while I try to find it, somebody else jump right in ... there is quite a history of attempted cures and treatments before the invention of the shunt, and it goes to show how desperate people were to find a solution. Also, I remember finding confirmation that the first shunt(s) for hydrocephalus were designed (developed? sketched?) by a hydraulics engineer whose son had the condition, which would be another worthwhile addition. Lawikitejana 03:05, 3 March 2007 (UTC) (sister of a person with hydrocephalus b. 1958 - feel free to say "hi" on my Talk page)

Along the same lines, it might be worth noting that author Roald Dahl had a son with hydrocephalus, and helped develop shunt technology. Kiwispam84 (talk) 03:39, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

The daughter of Sir John A. MacDonald, first Prime Minister of Canada, had a daughter who suffered from hydrocephalus. I don't know if there should be a separate section listing people in history who have had it, but it might be something to think about. Sort of like a Notable People section. Hm, I think it shouldn't go under the History section. I will make a section up, and then people can add to it. Sound good? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sdsures (talk • contribs) 02:14, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Internal/external vs communicating/non-communicating

I'm not sure that the dual use of classification systems is helpful, particularly the description of internal and external hydrocephalus. As far as I'm aware these terms are not in common clinical usage (unless they are peculiar to the US, perhaps?) and technically speaking are not accurate. Communicating and non-communicating/obstructive hydrocephalus are commoner clinical terms and are anatomically more correct. I'd suggest eliminating the use of the terms internal and external, except perhaps in an "also known as" aside?

Mcanty 17:19, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Hydrocephalus and alien skulls

I had originally deleted the sentence mentioned, as seen in recent history, as it was grammatically a bit confusing; I didn't think the point it made belonged it a medico-surgical encyclopedia article; and it is factually incorrect as the brain itself gets smaller, compressed by the CSF; it is also very unusual for the skull to enlarge (except in hydrocephalic infants prior to fontanelle closure and skull suture fusion.) As such, I think it should be removed - any consensus?

Mcanty 17:09, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

The material in question is: "In a hydrocephalic situation, the fluid accumulates in the ventricles, and the brain and skull may become enlarged because of the great volume of fluid pressing against them,a situation that some people misunderstood or scam others as announcing a hidrocephalic skull as being an alien skull."

The bolded, italicized part should remain in the article, I think. It preceded Tiago's edit. As for the remaining material, perhaps it could be replaced by something like this: "Hydrocephalic skulls have a somewhat alien appearance." I'll leave it up to you, Mcanty.Ferrylodge 18:04, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

P.S. I've edited the article accordingly. Feel free to change it.Ferrylodge 19:21, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Erased

Someone has erased the article on Hydrocephalus and left the information that was at the top right of the page. Please send this letter on and on to people, so Wikipedia can ban the people who were erasing the articles.

HIDROCEFALIA?

why is it called HIDROCEFALIA in spanish and portugese and Hydrocephalus in english when its greek? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.97.6.98 (talk) 13:20, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Could be the absence of the dipthong "ph" in those languages? For instance, in Russian, an "F" is just an "F" (meaning the equivalent "Ф" in the Cyrillic alphabet, which is based on the Greek letter phi) - the combination of "ph" in Russian does not create the sound "F").Sdsures (talk) 18:55, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Free image available

There's a free image here:  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/7/1. I just don't have time to upload it right now. If you'd like to upload it but don't know how, I'm glad to help, just drop me a note on my talk page. delldot talk 02:12, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

I've uploaded the first two, I don't know if the post-op images are as useful. delldot talk 02:58, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Here's another set: http://www.casesjournal.com/content/1/1/180 delldot ∇. 07:51, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

costs and funding

Hi, i removed this text "In the United States, the healthcare cost for hydrocephalus has exceeded $1 billion per year, but is still much less funded than research on other diseases including juvenile diabetes." since the reference was a dead link and i cannot find any other ref to verify this claim.--Amaher (talk) 00:20, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

References

Signs and Symptoms

Hi, I've made a section right at the beginning for signs and symptoms of hydrocephalus, with a citation. Sdsures (talk) 02:07, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypotension

I've added a bit about this, as I have experienced it. I know it's rare, but it needs to be put out there. I know I am not the only one with this! Could someone do some research about it and add citation? Sdsures (talk) 02:21, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

The Dead Infant Picture

I'm not a great writer and I don't plan on doing any editing personally.

I am the state chapter director for North Carolina, for the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation. I have a 20 month old little girl living with hydrocephalus.

I absolutely hate the picture of the dead infant on the hydrocephalus page. While death is a very real possibility for those with hydrocephalus, it does not best represent the majority of those who have it in modern times.

I would like this picture to be removed or at least more pictures added of people who are living and thriving while having hydrocephalus.

As a parent advocate, this picture is NOT the first thing I want expectant parents to see when they Google "hydrocephalus" for the first time.

Any help or advice on how to get this changed would be appreciated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lddewar (talk • contribs) 20:39, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Hi, could you link to an example of a picture you would like to be included in this article? Jarkeld (talk) 20:43, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Jarkeld. I think that this article could use a few additional pictures. A couple of thoughts... How would the picture of someone living with Hydrocephalus be significantly different than a picture of someone who doesn't have the condition at all? It is sort of like having picture of London that doesn't include any features unique to London... :( Would pictures of the scarring from an operation to insert a shunt be useful? The other possibility that springs to mind is actually showing a Cerebral Shunt before implantation. That picture I think would be appropriate both here and at Cerebral Shunt.

Sorry for the interruption - is it Cerebral shunt? - ¡Ouch! (^{hurt me} / _{more pain}) 15:06, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Yes.Naraht (talk) 15:28, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

I appreciate that your request is either for removal or for the addition of more, and I'd like to work toward adding more.

There was an additional picture referenced earlier in the thread File:Hydrocephalic_skeleton.jpg, but I think that like the baby picture, it would need to be balanced, I think...

I like the way the article is now, with some minor exceptions. First, the CT slice as the first picture is a good choice IMO; while WP is not censored, it is also an accepted rule that the first picture (or any picture on the first page on an average-sized display) should not be too shocking to the reader. The CT slice meets these criteria pefectly. - ¡Ouch! (^{hurt me} / _{more pain}) 15:06, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

The "Hydrocephalus-baby.jpg" -- is that the dead one? I'd suspect it is, from the label on its chest. If it is dead, the wording "severe hydrocephalus" is a way too euphemistic for an encyclopedic article. Suggestion: "An infant who died of hydrocephalus."

Finally, I think the two minuscule "Awareness" paragraphs should be merged into one, and the image of the ribbon should be dropped in its entirety. All those ribbons: AIDS, breast cancer, ... they give me the feeling that there's one huge ribbon-making company which would have gone broke with the decline of the typewiter, had it not been for the "wealth" of ribbon campaigns. When it comes to public awareness, there are better ways to go than ribbons. Education, papers, radio, even booklets. Just my opinion, but a piece of plastic tape doesn't deserve to be the largest image of the whole article. If someone wants to keep it, please give it some 80x128 pixels, not the outrageous ~225x350 it has now. - ¡Ouch! (^{hurt me} / _{more pain}) 15:06, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

While the baby picture is not the first image, it is partially visible on the first page for me. Given that the end of that section is essentially a list, I'm moving the picture could be moved down in that section. Unfortunately the description in wikicommons doesn't support that the baby died of the Hydrocephalus so I'm not currently supportive of the change to the description in the article. I changed the ribbon to the same size as the one on the breast cancer page. If more is added to the Awareness section, it should look OK.Naraht (talk) 15:28, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Is there someone I could e-mail pictures to upload? I have plenty of shunt related pictures of my daughter that you have my full permission to post. Also, here is a link to something we've done at Duke University Hospital with my daughter. She was featured in a news story. I'm not sure if anyone would want to touch on this for the page, because it is experimental. http://www.wcnc.com/news/health/Experimental-procedure-changes-Charlotte-area-girls-life-139739833.html Lddewar (talk)

Link to John Lorber

I found this site via the article about John Lorber: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lorber. I was a bit surprised to find that he was not mentioned in this article. Around 1980 (?) he wrote an article about a mathematician who suffered from hydrocephalus. Despite having only 10% of the normal brain mass, he had an IQ of 120+. The article was also referenced in the Science magazine. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.101.219.155 (talk) 23:37, 16 December 2012 (UTC)

Water intoxication

I'm not sure whether this is a sufficiently plausible source of confusion to justify inclusion in the hatnote. Was the intent to say that a chronic and/or repeated form of water intoxication is a common cause of hydrocephalus? --SoledadKabocha (talk) 03:15, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

The hatnote in question appears no longer to be present. --SoledadKabocha (talk) 23:34, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

Rubber Johnny should be listed here. I think he might have hydrocephalus. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.117.183.122 (talk) 00:08, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Text

This is well supported User:Wimpus

"The word "hydrocephalus" is from Greek hydro- 'water', and cephalus 'head'."

Not sure what you think the term should be and what ref you feel we should use to support it? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 18:16, 2 February 2019 (UTC)

Dear Doc James, the source states: "The term hydrocephalus is derived from the Greek words "hydro" meaning water and "cephalus" meaning head." According to this source, "hydro" and "cephalus" are actual Greek words, but a Greek dictionary shows us otherwise as ὕδωρ (hydōr) and κεφαλή (kephalē) are the actual Greek words for "water" and "head". "Hydro" and "cephalus" are non-existent in Greek. "Cephalus" is a Latinization of Κέφαλος (Kephalos), a name common for multiple mythological and historical figures from antiquity. Greek kέφαλος (kephalos) (with a lowercase) is actually a species of mullet. It seems that the author of the factsheet did not checked any dictionary and proposed an ill-informed etymology. Dorland's Medical dictionary for example mentions "hydro- + Gr. kephalē head" and explains that the combining form "hydr(o)-" is derived from "Gr. hydōr water". In Ancient Greek however, ὑδροκέφαλον (hydrokephalon) and ὑδροκέφαλον πάθος (hydrokephalon pathos) are attested. It is not clear to me, whether hydrocephalus is de novo compounded from ὕδωρ (hydōr) and κεφαλή (kephalē) or some kind of corruption of ὑδροκέφαλον (πάθος) (hydrokephalon (pathos)). With kind regards, Wimpus (talk) 18:47, 2 February 2019 (UTC)

User:Wimpus than how about "The word "hydrocephalus" is from "hydro-" meaning water and "cephalus" meaning head." Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 03:02, 3 February 2019 (UTC)

Actually, the source mentions hydro and not hydro-. But, wouldn't it be better to conclude that this fact sheet is a subpar source for etymological information and it is better to use a proper source instead? I will change tomorrow the text to: "Hydrocephalus is derived from Greek ὕδωρ (hydōr) "water" and κεφαλή (kephalē) "head"." with reference to Dorland's Medical dictionary. This is still an intermediate solution, as Dorland's Medical dictionary does not address the actually Greek forms like ὑδροκέφαλον (hydrokephalon) and ὑδροκέφαλον πάθος (hydrokephalon pathos), but is clearly a better attempt than pointing to non-existing forms such as hydro and cephalus. Wimpus (talk) 17:53, 5 February 2019 (UTC)