WHEREAS, Hydrocephalus is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the cavities of the brain; and

WHEREAS, Hydrocephalus affects a wide range of people from infants and children to young, middle-aged, and older adults; and

WHEREAS, There is no known cure for hydrocephalus; and

WHEREAS, One to two of every 1,000 babies are born with hydrocephalus, making it as common as Down syndrome and more common than spina bifida or brain tumors; and

WHEREAS, Hydrocephalus is the most common reason for brain surgery in children; and

WHEREAS, Two-thirds of our military service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries are likely to also have hydrocephalus; and

WHEREAS, Hydrocephalus is treated by performing brain surgery to insert a shunt to drain the CSF into another part of the body (usually the abdomen) where it can be absorbed. Originally invented over 50 years ago, shunts have the highest failure rate of any medically implanted device. An estimated 50 percent of shunts fail within the first two years; and

WHEREAS, One quarter of a million Americans may have normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which is most common in older adults and seniors; and

WHEREAS, Without appropriate diagnostic testing, NPH is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases; and

WHEREAS, Research suggests that treating NPH in the elderly population would reduce the United States’ health care expenditures by $25,000 per patient, or $184 million over five years; and

WHEREAS, The medical costs for hydrocephalus are over $1 billion per year, yet the National Institutes of Health invests less than $1 million per year in hydrocephalus treatment; and

WHEREAS, Over the last 50 years, there have been no significant improvement in hydrocephalus treatment and no progress toward prevention or cure; now, therefore, be it