Lulu sent me a paper about how hydrocephalus could be a byproduct of brain tumors that causes the effects of the brain tumor to be worse. Hydrocephalus is the accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles in the brain. This enlargement of ventricles puts pressure on the actual brain, causing injury and brain damage.

There are two main reasons why hydrocephalus could spawn from a brain tumor. The first reason is that CSF flow in the brain is blocked by the tumor or molecules produced by the tumor. The second is that CSF is produced in excess by the tumor itself. This causes hydrocephalus because the excess CSF disrupts the brain’s balance of producing and absorbing CSF. There is too much produced and the absorption rate can’t keep up with it.

Hydrocephalus causes intracranial pressure to go up and usually results in an abnormally large head. Perhaps that is why I saw dolphin heads in the mice I work with that have brain tumors.