The symptom triad of gait disorders, cognitive difficulties and urinary incontinence can be helpful in diagnosing normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), but much remains unknown about the condition, which affects 8.4 million people over age 80 around the world. Among key questions are how NPH develops in the first place and the role of genetics.<\/p>\n
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Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy<\/a><\/p>\n A recent systematic literature review of NPH genetics by Cleveland Clinic researchers found that the genes identified so far tend to be endothelial cell expressed, says neurologist James Liao, MD, PhD<\/a>. More research will be needed to identify others and to better understand the interplay between genetics and environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe motivation is really to help better define what NPH is, because there\u2019s actually some debate in the literature and in the field about whether NPH is a distinct condition or some final common pathway of other neurodegenerative conditions,\u201d says Dr. Liao. \u201cOne way to answer that is to do genetic testing and find genes that are associated with NPH and show that NPH has a different genetic pattern or profile than other neurodegenerative conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n In the latest episode of Cleveland Clinic\u2019s Neuro Pathways podcast<\/a>, Dr. Liao, who specializes in movement disorders, discusses NPH and other topics pertaining to gait impairment, including:<\/p>\n The varied causes of gait changesThe treatability of some disordersRoles of the patient\u2019s medical history and physical examExercise and Parkinson\u2019s diseaseAugmented reality (AR) and gait freezing<\/p>\n Click the podcast player above to listen to the 30-minute episode now, or read on for an edited excerpt. Check out more Neuro Pathways episodes at clevelandclinic.org\/neuropodcast<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n