John Searle

If John Searle began to fall, and his memory lost, he thought, it was in the early signs of dementia. But it turns out he has a Rare and often not diagnosed a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. The Good news is, it is treatable.

A few years ago, John Searle thought that his life as he knew it, was over.

His body had slowly stopped working. He had trouble walking, he fell down, he had poor short-term memory and 69, he was incontinent.

It was a pattern of decline, the retired Canadian engineer of Brantford, Ontario, was all too familiar. His own sister had died of Alzheimer's disease in their 50s. His father died of dementia in his early 80s. So he began to start planning for a future, he wouldn't be able to participate in.

"you kind of ask you where you're going. You start thinking, is this it?" he says.

the Doctors could not make a final Diagnosis , the Angry , the engineer in rest more. Parkinson's disease-treatment had no effect, he had no Alzheimer's, but something was clearly not right. By 2018, he needed a wheelchair to go outside, and a Walker in the House .

"There was no hope, I sat in The Window , watching the life go. "

"He was Angry - he was about to be Angry ," his wife, Barbara, chime in. "There were nights where I was in the evening, thinking in bed, maybe I'll have to sell the House . since I had to do everything. "

But that changed when he, Dr. Fasano, Alfonso met with, a neurologist at The Movement Disorders Clinic at Toronto Western Hospital, who diagnosed him with a condition called normal-pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH.

The disorder is caused when excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in The Brain , the ventricles, which is the communication center of the mind.

This accumulation of fluid can movement difficulties, memory and cognition, cause problems and incontinence - Symptoms that are often associated with more frequent degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or dementia.

estimates that at least 1 in 200 Canadians over the age of 55, or More Than 57,000 people, the NPH. In the United States, estimates that approximately 700 000 Americans have been diagnosed with are affected, but only about 20% of people living with the disease correctly.

"NPH is a condition that is not well understood," says Dr. Fasano. If left untreated, can people home wind up in a nursing, or die of complications. "This is what we don't want to see people, just discharged," he says.

Mr Searle for the first time by NPH, when he saw a specialist for the treatment of migraine headaches in 2003. An MRI showed some fluid in his brain, the ventricles, but because he didn't have the telltale Symptoms , he was not diagnosed.

In 2014, to see after several years of Symptoms such as memory loss, and mobility difficulty, the doctors did a lumbar puncture to drain The Fluid from his brain, if his Symptoms improved, a common test for NPH.

Since Mr Searle, that the Symptoms do not improve, his doctors determined NPH must not be the culprit.

Eight years after the 2010, when he for the first time, the questions of mobility and with his health rapidly deteriorated as noted, he met Dr. Fasano and agreed to try The Test again.

This Time , his wife, Barbara, noticed small improvements - so small that even her husband have not perceived.

"He wouldn't believe it," She Said . "It was almost like 'if I believe it, and you are wrong, it is too large, a disappointment. '"

Dr. Fasano, they put a shunt in his brain to drain The Fluid , the front-line treatment for NPH,

Shunt-Operation can lead to serious complications and is not recommended for anyone with the condition.

More Than a year later, and Mr Searle says he is beginning to get back his life. His gait has improved, as well as his memory. He regularly works with a personal trainer at The Gym and goes on hikes, in the building of its strength.

"The operation is only 50% of it, the rest is your thinking," he says.

Although he still does not have his license, Mr Searle and his wife began again. You went to Florida Last Winter , and you plan to travel to Las Vegas and Jamaica.

Barbara said, the biggest change is your man in the mood of:

"The apathy that haunted him disappeared. He is his cheerful self again. "

Dr. Fasano says Mr Searle's story was shared with the media, The Clinic was flooded with requests from patients who believe they have been incorrectly diagnosed and have NPH.

Though they failed Diagnosis of NPH is a very real problem, Dr. Fasano warns that most of the people who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease, the right Diagnosis - especially if you've seen a neurologist to investigate.

Up to 3% of the population over the age of 65 may have NPH, The World health organization estimates that dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, affects between 5-8% of the population over 60.

"This is a disease that is probably more common than we think it is, and this is a disease that can be treated very well with great dramatic change in the quality of life for these people," says The Doctor .

"at The same time, the people are now believe that, if you have Parkinson's, they were incorrectly diagnosed.

"they all hope that The Doctor was wrong. "

Source of news: bbc.com