A disorder known as pseudotumor cerebri – which manifests as a brain tumor but is not actually a tumor – can result in permanent vision loss for sufferers. One of its most significant side effects is swelling of the optic nerve, medically known as papilledema. The optic nerve is responsible for the ability to see.

Medical professionals are flummoxed by what causes the pseudotumor cerebri, which is also referred to as intracranial hypertension. It can affect children and adults but predominantly strikes obese women between ages 20 and 50. It is diagnosed when pressure inside the skull increases for no obvious reason.

Elevated pressure in the brain causes the same signs and symptoms of a brain tumor.

The Mayo Clinic reports that pseudotumor cerebri symptoms may include moderate to severe headaches that may originate behind your eyes and worsen with eye movement, ringing in the ears that pulses in time with your heartbeat (pulsatile tinnitus), nausea, vomiting or dizziness; blurred or dimmed vision; brief episodes of blindness, lasting only a few seconds and affecting one or both eyes (visual obscurations); difficulty seeing to the side; double vision (diplopia); seeing light flashes (photopsia); or neck, shoulder or back pain.

Symptoms of pseudotumor cerebri are aggravated by exercise, particularly abdominal exercises.

To diagnose the condition a brain scan is needed, mostly to rule out other causes. Doctors should also perform an eye exam to look for swelling of the optic disc, where the optic nerve enters the eyeball.

Visual fields tests check for blind spots while a lumbar puncture provides doctors with information about the pressure inside the skull. A lumbar puncture can relieve the symptoms, though sometimes only temporarily.

According to the Mayo Clinic, pseudotumor cerebri may be linked to too much fluid within the bony confines of the skull. The brain and spinal cord are surrounded by this fluid, which acts as a cushion to protect the tissues from injury.

“In general, your intracranial pressure increases when the contents of your skull exceed its capacity. For example, a brain tumor generally increases your intracranial pressure because there’s no room for the tumor. The same thing happens if your brain swells or if you have too much cerebrospinal fluid,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

“Several studies indicate that many people with pseudotumor cerebri have a narrowing (stenosis) in two large sinuses in the brain (transverse sinuses). Studies are determining whether this is an effect or a cause of the condition.”

People taking growth hormones, birth control pills such as tetracycline, the Mirena IUD and excess vitamin A may be at an increased risk of the disease as have well as people suffering from Addison’s disease, anemia, Behcet’s syndrome, blood-clotting disorders, lupus, polycystic ovary syndrome, sleep apnea, underactive parathyroid glands and uremia.

Vision loss and blindness caused by pseudotumor cerebri may be permanent and/or reoccurring.