DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please address normal-pressure hydrocephalus. Is this condition common or rare? Are there any home treatments or any treatment other than surgery? I am 72 and have had some hefty blows to the head. In the past two years, my balance has been problematic, and my ability to talk and think have been affected; I have some memory loss. – L.H.

ANSWER: Hydrocephalus is water on the brain: an overload of cerebrospinal fluid — the fluid that circulates through large, hollow brain caverns and trickles over the surface of the brain and spinal cord to nourish both. In infants, hydrocephalus greatly enlarges the skull if the fluid excess isn’t taken care of. Their skulls are not completely closed. In adults, whose skulls are rigidly shut, hydrocephalus doesn’t enlarge the skull, but it dilates the hollow brain caverns and compresses the brain. It generally happens after age 60. For 50 percent of sufferers, no cause is found. For the other half, things like head trauma, meningitis or previous brain bleeding have contributed to it.

There are three symptoms that are highly suggestive of normal-pressure hydrocephalus. One is impaired walking. People with the condition walk with their feet spaced widely apart, and they have a hard time getting their feet off the ground to take a step. It looks as though their feet are stuck to the ground. Their walk is a slow shuffle.

The second sign of normal-pressure hydrocephalus is loss of urine control.

The third is dementia, a deterioration of mental functioning. People struggle with memory lapses, can’t express themselves coherently and are confused.

Surgery is the only treatment. The surgery isn’t as involved as you might think. It’s drainage of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain into another body cavity like the abdominal cavity. A small tube is inserted into the brain and the tube is then snaked under the skin to the abdomen for drainage. The procedure has the potential to relieve normal-pressure hydrocephalus’ symptoms.

The condition isn’t all that common, but estimates are inconsistent.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My dad passed away nine years ago from emphysema. I have a brother, 15 years younger, who smokes very heavily.

I can’t understand this when all our family watched my dad die from smoking. I have spent endless hours talking with my brother and pleading with him to stop smoking. He also drinks excessively.

He has chronic bronchitis, but I am unable to convince him that his constant battle with chronic bronchitis is the early stages of emphysema.

I have watched him become slow in speech and in thought from the drinking and smoking, and his life is in disarray.

Would it be possible for you to write about the symptoms of early emphysema? That might get the message across to him. – J.S.

ANSWER: Chronic bronchitis goes hand in hand with emphysema. The two are called COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. If people have one, they invariably have the other. Chronic bronchitis is irritation of airways, the bronchi. Its chief symptom is a constant cough that brings up thick mucus – the cigarette-smoker’s cough. Emphysema is the destruction of the air sacs through which oxygen reaches the blood. Emphysema’s chief symptom is shortness of breath on slight exertion. Undoubtedly, your brother has both.

The booklet on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease explains both conditions and their treatment. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 601, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6.75 Can with the recipient’s printed name and address.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I use honey in my tea and sometimes on my pancakes. A friend says it causes mold in your body. Is that true? How about honey for babies? – C.C.

ANSWER: Humans have eaten honey for millennia. It doesn’t cause mold in the body. Infants younger than 1 year should not eat honey. They could possibly come down with botulism, a dangerous kind of food poisoning. This doesn’t happen to older children and adults.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Two years ago I had surgery for a meningioma. Since then, I have been diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency. I take a cortisone drug and am very tired during the day. Can you help? – L.S.

ANSWER: The adrenal glands make many hormones. Two of the most important are cortisone and aldosterone. Cortisone is intimately involved with the metabolism of nutrients. It enhances immune activity, maintains the integrity of the heart and performs other life-saving functions. Aldosterone keeps blood pressure from falling and oversees the balance between sodium and potassium. You should be taking both.

I can’t relate the meningioma surgery to your insufficiency. A meningioma is a benign tumor of the brain coverings. If the tumor somehow affected the pituitary gland, then I understand the relationship. The pituitary gland governs the adrenal glands’ hormone production.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com