- A leak of the fluid that protects and supports the brain can cause “brain sagging,” which is associated with the same behavioral symptoms as a less common form of dementia.
- A new study suggests that surgically fixing such leaks can reverse the symptoms.
- However, the research also found that it is not always possible to identify the source of the leaks.
- In these cases, alternative treatments for brain sagging often fail to improve dementia symptoms.
Damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain can result in early-onset dementia, known as frontotemporal dementia or
FTD is relatively rare in older people compared with other types of dementia but is the most common cause of the condition in people aged up to 60.
A subset of patients have behavioral FTD or bvFTD, which involves progressive changes in behavior, personality, and thinking skills.
For example, people with bvFTD often fail to empathize with others and can lose their former inhibitions, which can result in inappropriate behavior.
The memory problems that usually characterize dementia only occur later in the course of bvFTD.
A new study by researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, adds to evidence that cerebrospinal fluid leakage can cause the symptoms of bvFTD.
The good news from the study is that a specialist imaging technique can often identify the source of the leaks, which surgeons can then fix, effecting a complete cure of patients’ symptoms.
“Many of these patients experience cognitive, behavioral, and personality changes so severe that they are arrested or placed in nursing homes,” said Dr. Wouter Schievink, director of the Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak and Microvascular Neurosurgery Program and professor of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai.
“If they have behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia with an unknown cause, then no treatment is available,” said Dr. Schievink, who led the research.
“But our study shows that patients with cerebrospinal fluid leaks…
Read the full article here