Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a neurological disorder that causes progressive decline in mobility, bladder control and memory.
It happens when there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain of an older person.
We don’t yet have, however, a good understanding of what causes it and treatments are therefore limited.
That’s why we are keen to gather more blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with iNPH for NCARC’s growing collection. We also have an associated research database with clinical, neuropsychological and imaging information.
Biomarkers
We hope that together, these will support research into the discovery of new biomarkers – substances found in blood, CSF or other tissues – and that investigating the underlying cause of the condition will ultimately help to improve diagnosis and could lead to effective treatment.
Lead researcher Dr Tobias Langheinrich said: “The first symptom of iNPH is usually problems with walking and poor balance, followed by loss of bladder control and then poor memory.
“At present many patients remain without diagnosis and those diagnosed need invasive treatment with neurosurgery underlining the need for markers enabling easier diagnosis and ideally the development of non-invasive treatments.”
It’s important that you know that researchers who want to use samples, tissue and data from our collections have to meet rigorous standards. Our expert review panel critically review all proposals to make sure that they are scientifically robust and meet ethical and regulatory requirements.