18-Month-Old Baby Suffering From Hydrocephalus, Family Unable to Afford Treatment

In today's day and age, it can be difficult to afford the proper treatment for an illness. And that is the case for Abdul Rahman and his daughter, Roona Begum, who is suffering from hydrocephalus.

Living in the village of Jirania in India's northeastern state of Tripura, Rahman makes just over $2 a day working in a brick factory and cannot afford for her to be treated. Babies born with this health problem require prompt surgical treatment to avoid being left permanently disabled, but at 18 months, they cannot afford the care for treatment. They can only do their best to keep her comfortable as they watch her condition worsen.

Sometimes misleadingly known as water on the brain, hydrocephalus is caused by a build-up of the cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull, increasing pressure on the brain inside, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

The brain constantly produces new cerebrospinal fluid at the rate of about a pint a day, while old fluid is released from the brain and reabsorbed into the blood vessels.

But if this process is interrupted, as in individuals with hydrocephalus, levels of the fluid can quickly build up and place pressure on the brain, causing headaches, blurred vision and, eventually, permanent brain damage.

"Left untreated, if it progresses very quickly, the babies usually die because their brain tissues are unable to adapt,"' said Gill Yaz, health development manager for Shine, a UK charity set up to help people affected by hydrocephalus, according to The Daily Mail. 

However, she added, if the condition develops more slowly, as in Roona's case, the child adapts by growing their skulls to contain the excess fluid. However, the adaptation can only go so far.

The most commonly used treatment for hydrocephalus is to implant a thin tube referred to as a shunt in the child's brain and drain the excess cerebrospinal fluid to another part of the body where it can be more easily reabsorbed.

The shunt has a valve inside it to control the flow of fluid and to ensure it does not drain too quickly, which those treated can feel as a lump under the skin of their scalps.

"It's done by paediatric neurosurgeons, but its not a very demanding procedure. The operation usually lasts about 30 minutes," Yaz said.