What Is Benign Intracranial Hypertension?
Benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) is also sometimes known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and is a rare condition affecting about 1 person in every 100,000. Anyone can be affected by it although it is most commonly seen in overweight women of childbearing age. There are no definite causes although links have been made to hormonal imbalances and weight gain. Everyone with BIH has different sets of symptoms but common ones include headache, visual disturbances, dizziness, back pain, nausea and vomiting, memory problems and a dislike of bright light. BIH is diagnosed from the patient’s history and from blood tests to exclude other conditions, and an examination of the back of the eyes that may often show swelling of the optic disc (papilloedema). A lumbar puncture will also show that the measurement of the cerebrospinal fluid is elevated, and a CT or MRI scan will be performed to rule out the possibility of a brain tumour. A visual field test will also be done to check if th
