Re: Mom goes in for Hydrocephalus testing

[Guest guest]

Last week my dad who was diagnosed with LBD in Dec. 2002 was in

the hospital for tests. They did a CAT scan and the neurologist who

read the results is now saying hydrocephalus. I have had a call into

the neurologist since Mon. and still waiting for him to call back. While I

know who this neurologist is (I met him at an Alzheimer's assoc. talk)

his partner in the office is the one who diagnosed dad with LBD.

Just tonight I read this on the Parkinson's email digest that I get everyday.

I find the reply by Dr. Lieberman very interesting and thought that others

might find it interesting also.

Gwen

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Subject: N P H

From: " Anonymous " <askthedoctor@...<about:blank>>

Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 11:26:19 -0400

X-Message-Number: 5

Just saw a discussion on CNN that discribed new findinds that indicated

there may be mis-diagonose between PD and Alzheimers and N P H. The

article indicated that excessive fluid on the brain [NPH} had symptons

like PD ; for example dementia , incontenance and a shuffling gait. My

wife has these and no tremors and is diagnosed with PD. Would you refer me

to any info. on NPH and would you recommend I suggest to her neurologist

that she have a CT-scan to eliminate the question of NPH. She has been on

Requip for 6 yrs. and is now on Sinemet 25/100 3X/day and 1mg/Requip

3X/day. She has never had any tremor.but has severe walking/ balance

problems plus confussion and hallusinations. Also she has to urinate

frequently ; every 2-3 hours and sometime hourly . The discussion this

morning on CNN indicated that there may be some people with NPH that have

been mis-diagnosed with PD or Alzeheimers who actually have this excessive

brain fluid that can be correced and the stability , dementia and

incontenance cleared up. They indicated a Cat-Scan can detect NPH

Sincerely D.L.DALBEC

comment

normal pressure hydrocephalus despite what cnn says is not easy to diagnosed

one must distinguish between atrophy of the brain and increased size of the

ventricles i am as knowledgeable as any doctor on pd and nph and after 30 years

i cannot tell the difference ultimately if you suspect nph you must do a shunt

and often there are complications

this is not as simple or straightforward as cnn would indicate

when i hear reports such as you describe i question the accuracy of their

reporting on other issues

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Mom goes in for Hydrocephalus testing

My mom was diagnosed with Parkinsons first and with LBD in

February. However the thing of it is is we do not see the typically

mentioned hallucinations or severe memorey loss. She is only 70 and

MMSE was 22. My father was unable to deal with some of her health

issues and was constantly berating her about her ability to walk,

memorey, and sloppy eating habits. Her health decline began with a

shuffling hunched motion, some sense or urgency to use the restroom,

some incontinance issues which are now more or less undercontrol.

She is now in an assisted living facility and we call often and

mentally she seems ok which may be due to not being under a

microscope and sleeping better. She is taking an antidepressant,

memantine, an ocassional sleeping pill. Anyone else experince this?

Welcome to LBDcaregivers.

[Guest guest]

my dad doesnt seem to have all thetypical lbd symptoms either, but he does

have more than i would like to admit sometimes,

he has that shuffle walk, with his head seeming to bow down to the world

always and at 6ft 4 it is sad to see, my dad has never bowed down to

anyone!!!!!

his mental status comes and goes, and changes at a blink of an eye.

and eating, oh my goddnes, he refuses to wear his dentures, and then stuffs

his mouth so full that he freuently chokes it back up. i have to constantly

remind him little bites, or take a drink to wash it down, daddy gets very

insulted if we cut the fod on his plate, so i discreetly cut his meat and stuff

up, i

cook alot in crock pot so the nmeat is usallyy softer and is in smaller

pieces. that has seemed to help,

i also found a little trick that has helped too, there are those grapefruit

spoons with the serated edge for cuting the fruit, i let dad use those sppons

for as much as possible, while he is spooning out lets say his canned fruit

from the serving cup, it cuts the fruit for him at same time, that has helped

quite a bit. also when he was in hospital, i had sticky fingers and brought home

6 of those plastic cups that they served drinks in on the meal trays, they

are small cups but have a rough finish on them, a gripping finish and dad

dropped and spilled less often and then there is the common sense thing too, i

only filled cup up 2/3 way, that way when he had pd shakes, very little spilled.

all that together has helped alot.

hope some of this helps,

sharon m florida

x

xxxxx

[Guest guest]

Hi there -

Something to consider with LBD. Hallucinations is only one of the 3

symptoms needed for LBD. If your mom has dementia and the following

two items: a) fluctuating cognition, where sometimes she thinks

pretty well, and sometimes just plain stinky, or sometimes is more

aware or alert than others, and she has the PD-like symptoms,

that can be enough to diagnose LBD.

My father doesn't have any of the hallucinations either. But at

night, he has a sleep disorder where he has terrible nightmares

about animals attacking him, and he can't tell it isn't real. He

gets out of bed, looking for those little creatures. His memory

also isn't as bad as one would expect. But it's his executive

functions, like planning, problem solving, and insight, that are

severly impaired now.

He's on Aricept and Clonazepam for the LBD (plus about 10 others for

other health problems.)

Hope that helps!

> My mom was diagnosed with Parkinsons first and with LBD in

> February. However the thing of it is is we do not see the

typically

> mentioned hallucinations or severe memorey loss. She is only 70

and

> MMSE was 22. My father was unable to deal with some of her health

> issues and was constantly berating her about her ability to walk,

> memorey, and sloppy eating habits. Her health decline began with

a

> shuffling hunched motion, some sense or urgency to use the

restroom,

> some incontinance issues which are now more or less undercontrol.

> She is now in an assisted living facility and we call often and

> mentally she seems ok which may be due to not being under a

> microscope and sleeping better. She is taking an antidepressant,

> memantine, an ocassional sleeping pill. Anyone else experince

this?

[Guest guest]

Sharon,

Dad won't wear his dentures either. I was cooking food soft and cutting it

before giving it to him. He knows that he can't cut up his food and seems

appreciative that I do that so that he doesn't have to struggle. It is amazing

sometimes what little tricks we can come up with to try make life easier for

our LOs.

Was so sorry to read your story about the caregivers that were supposed to

be there to help you. I hope things work out better for you next month. I am

hoping to get to a support group next week myself. It will be new for me too.

Gwen

Re: Mom goes in for Hydrocephalus testing

my dad doesnt seem to have all thetypical lbd symptoms either, but he does

have more than i would like to admit sometimes,

he has that shuffle walk, with his head seeming to bow down to the world

always and at 6ft 4 it is sad to see, my dad has never bowed down to

anyone!!!!!

his mental status comes and goes, and changes at a blink of an eye.

and eating, oh my goddnes, he refuses to wear his dentures, and then stuffs

his mouth so full that he freuently chokes it back up. i have to constantly

remind him little bites, or take a drink to wash it down, daddy gets very

insulted if we cut the fod on his plate, so i discreetly cut his meat and

stuff up, i

cook alot in crock pot so the nmeat is usallyy softer and is in smaller

pieces. that has seemed to help,

i also found a little trick that has helped too, there are those grapefruit

spoons with the serated edge for cuting the fruit, i let dad use those sppons

for as much as possible, while he is spooning out lets say his canned fruit

from the serving cup, it cuts the fruit for him at same time, that has helped

quite a bit. also when he was in hospital, i had sticky fingers and brought

home

6 of those plastic cups that they served drinks in on the meal trays, they

are small cups but have a rough finish on them, a gripping finish and dad

dropped and spilled less often and then there is the common sense thing too,

i

only filled cup up 2/3 way, that way when he had pd shakes, very little

spilled.

all that together has helped alot.

hope some of this helps,

sharon m florida

x

xxxxx