Trevor Price

Conventional Signs Associated with Brain Tumors

Brain tumors and their symptoms are afflicting more people every year.  Since most brain tumors exhibit indicators like seemingly innocent headaches that are generally caused by less severe disorders, they're often discounted or brushed aside as insignificant.

Since many brain tumor symptoms may seem innocuous, like headaches, patients and doctors fail to recognize them as potentially serious or evidence of a life-threatening growth until it's too late. As a result, a diagnosis isn't achieved until the tumor develops to a size or serious level that makes life-saving treatment unachievable.

If detected early, many brain tumors can be treated and possibly cured. New treatments, such as immunotherapy, chemotherapy, gene treatment therapy and radioactive treatments, are being used more often as they develop and become increasingly effective.

Consequently, physicians and patients are being advised to be cognizant of brain tumor symptoms and to do a thorough examination if potential symptoms surface. If a brain tumor is detected early enough, it can be cured. And though brain scans are costly - they are relatively painless and could save your life. To learn about symptoms connected to brain tumors and why you need to be aware, please read on.

Signs for Concern

Brain tumors need to be detected when they are small and still susceptible to treatment. Symptoms hinge on the size of the tumor and where in the brain it's located. A benign tumor can develop very slowly over several years before it produces a recognizable symptom.

Among the basic harbingers are relentless or continual headaches, especially those that occur at night or are there immediately when an individual wakes up. Typically in young children, headaches happen simultaneously with vomiting or nausea.

Additional common symptoms include personality changes; vision or speech problems; behavioral issues; tiredness, numbness or paralysis or trouble walking or balancing; seizures that are similar to epileptic seizures, and sensory problems, like hearing or smelling something that's not there.

Too often, symptoms such as changes in behavior are ascribed to a mental disorder or to the aging process and are not addressed until it's too late to cure.

Why You Should Be Aware of Possible Indicators

Brain tumors are on the rise, being the second most common type of cancer in young children and occurring as often as ovarian cancer in adult women. Roughly half of primary brain tumors are diagnosed as benign. This means they grow and spread slowly and can typically be cured or removed. The other half are diagnosed as malignant - they are fast-growing and intrusive. Many of these can be treated, but are not always curable.

For More Information

For more information on brain tumors and their associated signs, contact the American Brain Tumor Association. Their phone number is (800) 886-2282, and they can supply information and referrals for patients and their families. 

Article Tags: Brain Tumors, Brain Tumor

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