Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertention

Personal Article Regarding a Rare Neurological Disorder

By: Daniela Silva

The complexity of its name causes enough confusion and headache in itself, so you can call it by its short form IIH. Also known as benign intracranial hypertension or pseudotumor cerebri it is mainly characterized by an increase in pressure around the brain, however this is with the absence of a tumor. If left untreated it can lead to the swelling of the optic disc, which then causes vision loss. Symptoms include dizziness, head pain, double vision, nausea, vomiting, pulsatile tinnitus,

This neurological disorder happens to mainly women in childbearing age but it can and does affect children and men too. To diagnose a patient a lumbar puncture has to be done to measure out the pressure of the fluid followed by a MRI or CT scan to confirm there is no tumor present. with IIH  There is no known cure for IIH but it is said that weight loss does help and can help temporarily, but when there is no weight to lose, there is only medicine to help suppress the pain. A shunt can also be surgically implanted to allow excess spinal fluid to drain out either into the heart or to the abdomen or belly.

Being Diagnosed with IIH is indescribable, and the symptoms always differ from person to person. Being diagnosed with such a misunderstood and unknown neurological disorder means I don't get the satisfaction of knowing when it is going to go away. I can be great one day and feel as though my head will burst the next. Many people have no idea how seriously this can affect one's standard of living and there needs to be some sort of action to get people aware.

Spread awareness.

Extinct... and stolen?

By: Daniela Silva

It has been a dreadfully long week for the smallest and critically  fragile species of water lily, which has been stolen from the royal botanic gardens in London. This lily is widely believed to be extinct in the wild  due to a laundry that had opened up and acquired the water source the lily flourished in, since then only 50 in the world are carefully preserved  within facilities.

With the obliteration of this species Mr. Fischer had kept careful precautions, and keeping the flowers in fair condition had given him time to figure out how the species procreated and flourished. It was a dreadfully timely process that was sure to eradicate the rare and elusive water lily; suddenly  Carlos Magdalena had resurrected the dying species.

Carlos Magdalena had helped the procreation of the 50 in captivity today; and back in africa it seems as though the tiny water lily had braced through the toughest of times and made a comeback. Hopefully the naturally germinated seeds will flourish in the mud a few hundred  feet away from its native home.

Police unfortunately have no insight as to where the previously captive flower would have been taken and further report that there is likely no chance of recovering the lily; dubbed as a priceless and crucial part of the conservation of the species.