SUMMARY
Philip W. Tipton, M.D., is a neurologist at Mayo Clinic who researches the clinical characteristics of conditions that affect a person's movement and cognition.
Dr. Tipton develops very detailed clinical characterizations using a variety of tools, such as neurophysiology and gait analyses. These characterizations are used to identify new relationships among genetic, biochemical, radiographic and histological aspects of disease. This information helps improve accuracy in diagnosing complex neurological conditions and supports the development of better treatments.
Focus areas
- Complex gait disorders. A typical gait or movement pattern can be disrupted by many neurological conditions. These include conditions that directly affect movement and those that indirectly affect movement because of cognitive changes. Dr. Tipton seeks to understand the significance and predictive power of specific gait changes that occur in complex gait conditions. Dr. Tipton runs the Florida Gait Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, where quantitative gait analyses are conducted for people with gait problems.
- Parkinsonian disorders. Parkinson's disease is the most common cause of parkinsonism. However, many conditions can mimic Parkinson's disease, especially in the early stages, which can lead to a delayed or incorrect diagnosis and affect treatment. Dr. Tipton's research aims to identify subtle clinical and radiographic changes of early disease so that an accurate diagnosis can be made as soon as possible.
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS). Deep brain stimulation is an effective treatment for several neurological conditions, such as tremor, Parkinson's disease and dystonia. Dr. Tipton helps develop and apply new implant methods and post-operative programming approaches to improve the functionality and effectiveness of DBS.
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). NPH causes gait impairment with cognitive decline or urinary dysfunction, or both. Surgical implantation of an intraventricular shunt can help, but it can be challenging to identify who should receive a shunt. Dr. Tipton's research focuses on characterizing gait disturbances in NPH and determining which ones may get better with a division of cerebrospinal fluid. Dr. Tipton also works with a multidisciplinary team to identify novel genetic associations of normal pressure hydrocephalus.
- Device-based treatment of tremors. Tremor has several causes, most often essential tremor. Dr. Tipton is involved in research to develop and test devices to improve tremor.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Tipton's research brings a new level of granularity to the clinical features of conditions that cause gait impairments, including parkinsonian disorders and normal pressure hydrocephalus. Dr. Tipton's research aids more accurate and timely diagnoses of these conditions. This, in turn, helps inform the best treatment options for each person. Dr. Tipton's work also is expanding the relatively limited treatment options for tremor disorders.