Barometric pressure headaches (hydrocephalus)

There's a lot of blog posts about the barometric pressure headaches, and the connection it has to hydrocephalus that are either pretty long, or hard to understand so I'm going to try to avoid both. 

There are two studies that I've found online that explains this problem. The first explains in scientific terms the exact point barometric pressure gets high enough that it effects ICP (intracranial pressure). The second one explains that the cerebrum either increases in size or decreases in size depending on the weather including stormy weather, but also when it comes to temperature or humidity. To be more specific the rest of the brain stays the same size, but the cerebrum changes sizes. In stormy weather, the heat, and when it's humid the size increases. But in cold weather it decreases. So if your barometric pressure headaches are worse in the summer than the winter, this might explain why. Also I live in Arizona where it normally doesn't get too cold. So between that and other desert weather patterns. I would like to eventually like to visit a colder State in the Fall to see how much more of a difference it makes when it comes to my headaches. 

I also found a source while researching for this post explaining that barometric pressure issues might just be lethargy, which I've experienced far longer than the headaches itself. I noticed it as a teenager because of my age, but probably dealt with it during stormy weather long before that. My headaches started when I was 22. and I've definitely made up for not really having them in childhood during the last 12 years. Lethargy is of course is the minimum for barometric pressure headaches. The other end is headaches that so bad that you can't get out of bed when you might normally have a very high pain tolerance.

Sources are below, and I'm including more of a experience that a guest blogger wrote for me years ago. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33839865/

https://healthnewshub.org/new-research-weather-changes-brain-size-affecting-physical-psychiatric-conditions/

 

 https://waltersdegree.blogspot.com/2017/09/did-you-know-some-interesting.html?m=1

 

http://timothy-landry.blogspot.com/2015/04/guest-blog-by-mikayla-weather-and-shunts.html

Link dump for upcoming posts.

 https://www.hydroassoc.org/complications-of-shunt-systems/?fbclid=IwAR1DlnyI04d0Mgd8tgH6L1w36QZ0eRz6sXQmXxeGkNiwpoveyjvQ0TuPaKY (Shunts)

 

 https://www.hydroassoc.org/hydrocephalus-day-to-day/?fbclid=IwAR3LiG6oRkiJKDvDMcIsPO-NYtXPkB7enF13LVDERsiNCnUR2813wupyem0 (Headaches and barometric pressure)

 

 https://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/an-adultand-a-recovering-spder.html?fbclid=IwAR3gcZazREgzP1EiOISFTFBS0v5a_WC_SJdj2JOKoMajVXrynTcgH-YNPSo (Sensory)

 

 https://shuntwhisperer.com/2017/10/16/me-and-the-barometer-2-0/?fbclid=IwAR3GSCM4shZj0xT9siGJAeuZEDjVNUh0SLCan9zxpN0fSeH-LUW9D3AtfGk (Barometric)

 

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4553745/?fbclid=IwAR2VwFEg9gPCWi16e36jcS78jiSej0KekK4mLH0jaS5ghPBSgvvJzVWsh-w (Calcification)

 

 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/12/roald-dahl-medical-pioneer-stroke-hydrocephalus-measles-vaccination?fbclid=IwAR1nTgtVyiT5dFgX2W_49J3_QKm1KK5f3rxy30kVI7FgTahSMzQ7pwX50rA (Roald Dahl)

 

 https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/248590-blanc (Looney Tunes)

 

 http://protomag.com/articles/roald-dahl-and-the-curious-shunt?fbclid=IwAR2rl-rVOqmFF0I8WLln8GTw4oWnUV45FTwv1CSU0JZohgg_ugy2lWiwvIs (Roald Dahl)

 

 https://dollecommunicationsblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/weather-app-helps-manage-barometric-pressure-related-migraine-headache/?fbclid=IwAR2TD5sQTT7JS7-_174EbqsAhKBYINXCsV7ehFC0gOMoR-Px271Np72QZyo (Barometric)

 

 

Paraphrasing the Hydrocephalus Association's Teacher's Guide: Physical problems associated with hydrocephalus

 I've been paraphrasing the Hydrocephalus Association's teachers guide so I've gotten to the point where it's the first couple of sections, and information that's a lot more easily found online. So I'm going to keep things shorter, and not try to include as many details. 

 

The first part of the section covers that children with hydrocephalus usually have other medical conditions like Dandy Walker syndrome, spina bifida and cerebral palsy. Other ones that aren't listed that I know of is epilepsy and Chiari malformation. It also covers needing physical therapy and occupational therapy. The part that might not be as well-known is the hydrocephalus association recommending comprehensive development testing, and a neuro-psychological evaluation early on. 

 

I'm not sure how well known it is but CSF can cause vision damage that ranges from very mild vision problems to very severe vision damage, including being legally blind. Of course there's other causes of vision problems, and the HA isn't trying to say this is the only cause. It can also cause eye misalignment problems that can be fixed with surgery. From hearing about personal experiences, eye misalignment issues at very common with at least cerebral palsy as well. 

 

The next sub subject covers precocious puberty which can easily be found online, but I feel like it needs to be covered still. It might be caused by the brain anatomy associated with hydrocephalus affecting the pituitary gland. This is more likely with children that had brain trauma including brain tumors and meningitis.It can also cause behavior that isn't normal at a earlier age. The sections that I decided to skip is shunt revisions, headaches, seizures, and hand/eye coordination. I've covered hand/eye coordination in my blog before, and I plan on writing detailed posts about headaches soon, and I've had someone guest blog for me about barometric pressure headaches before as well. 

 

Next week I'll be covering the introduction to the teacher's guide, and general information. Then posting the links to each of my posts covering the sections. I still plan on writing regularly, but it will be less frequently because I need to do research, and breaks are necessary.

 

 

Source:  https://www.hydroassoc.org/docs/A_Teachers_Guide_to_Hydrocephalus.pdf

The guest blog about barometric pressure headaches: http://timothy-landry.blogspot.com/search/label/Weather