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Rapid responses are electronic letters to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on thebmj.com. Although a selection of rapid responses will be included online and in print as readers' letters, their first appearance online means that they are published articles. If you need the url (web address) of an individual response, perhaps for citation purposes, simply click on the response headline and copy the url from the browser window. Letters are indexed in PubMed.
As a Podiatrist I am aware of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) that could also be a possible result of brain injury. It is thought that 10-12% of people diagnosed with dementia could be living with NPH a correctable condition which can first present itself with gait disturbance. Following treatment NPH can be reversible with many patients returning to live a normal active life. In UK as opposed to USA there is little awareness of this disease and often patients suffering Alzheimer's and other related dementia and falls are in fact living with NPH.
I have picked up a patient who had the recognizable magnetic gait along with incontinence who had been seen regularly by a GP.
People who have sustained a traumatic brain injury have a higher risk of developing dementia [1]. Alcohol abuse is associated with a higher risk of head trauma, especially in condition of disregard for the Law. Therefore, the term “alcoholic dementia”͕ used e.g. in the former Soviet Union, is less adequate than the term “alcohol-related dementia”͕ used in other countries, as repeated head trauma, old hematomas and undernourishment may contribute to the damage of neural structures and advancement of dementia. The term “alcoholic dementia” tends to ascribe the whole damage to alcohol, thus distracting attention from property-related and other crime against alcohol-dependent people [2].
References
1. Torjesen I. Traumatic brain injury raises dementia risk, large study suggests. BMJ 2018;361:k1597.
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311922946_Alcohol_abuse_and_tox...
Re: Traumatic brain injury raises dementia risk, large study suggests
As a Podiatrist I am aware of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) that could also be a possible result of brain injury. It is thought that 10-12% of people diagnosed with dementia could be living with NPH a correctable condition which can first present itself with gait disturbance. Following treatment NPH can be reversible with many patients returning to live a normal active life. In UK as opposed to USA there is little awareness of this disease and often patients suffering Alzheimer's and other related dementia and falls are in fact living with NPH.
I have picked up a patient who had the recognizable magnetic gait along with incontinence who had been seen regularly by a GP.
Competing interests: No competing interests