What Are The Symptoms Of A Brain Tumor ?

A brain tumour is a growth of abnormal cells that form a lump or mass in the brain. Brain tumours can cause problems with thinking, emotions, memory, speech, or other functions.

There are two main types of brain tumours: primary and secondary. Primary brain tumors arise from the cells within the brain itself. Secondary brain tumours develop from cancer cells that have spread to the brain from other parts of the body.

Primary Brain Tumors

• Brain stem glioma
• Glioblastoma multiforme
• Oligodendroglioma

Secondary Brain Tumors:

• Metastatic cancer

Also, brain tumors are either benign or malignant. Benign brain tumours do not grow and do not spread to other parts of the body. Malignant brain tumours can grow and spread to other parts of your body, leading to serious health risks.

What are the signs of a brain tumor?

The symptoms of brain tumors vary depending on the type, size, and exact location in the brain. For example, symptoms can include headaches due to increased pressure inside the skull, difficulty speaking or swallowing caused by paralysis in parts of the mouth and throat, double vision caused by pressure on both optic nerves and blurred vision due to pressure. In general, some common symptoms are:

• He is suffering from headaches.
• Nausea and vomiting
• drowsiness
• Sensory changes such as vision, smell, and hearing.
• Memory problems
• seizures
• Personality changes
• fatigue
• Sleep difficulties
• weakness on one side of the body.
• difficulty walking or carrying out daily tasks

Brain tumor early symptoms:

Along with all these symptoms, people have encountered some additional brain tumour early symptoms too. These are as follows:

Memory loss and confusion:

Brain tumors can affect your memory and interfere with important brain functions such as reasoning and decision-making. A tumour in the frontal or temporal lobe can cause short-term or long-term memory problems, as well as damage to specific parts of the brain. For example,

• You have a hard time concentrating and get easily distracted.
• You sometimes find yourself getting lost in details that are often too small to really make a difference.

Weakness and numbness:

For some cancer patients, a feeling of general weakness can happen just because their body is fighting the tumour. Brain cancer is a type of cancer that causes numbness or tingling in the hands and feet.

Headache changes:

A brain tumor is a type of cancer that starts in the brain. A tumour in the brain can put pressure on sensitive nerves and blood vessels. It also prevents fluid from flowing freely in the brain, which can cause headaches.

Worsening headaches are a common symptom of brain tumours. Tumours that start near the pituitary gland often cause high hormone levels, which also lead to headaches.

The change in your pattern of headaches may include:

• Severe unexplained vomiting
• Persistent pain is different from migraines.
• Headaches in the morning lead to difficulty waking up.
• Don't rely on over-the-counter pain relievers for your work exhaustion pains. They don't help at all!

Personality changes or mood shifts:

Brain tumors can affect how you behave and your mood. For example,

• It seems like you're feeling a bit more irritable lately. This might be because of stress or other factors, such as smoking or drinking. It's important that you take it easy and look for ways to refresh and relax yourself.
• You used to be very active and determined, but in the past few weeks, you seem to have slowed down.
• It seems like you're feeling intense emotions and suddenly starting arguments for no particular reason. This often happens when people are depressed or stressed.
• Occasionally, changes in personality can occur in the early stages or as a result of chemotherapy or other cancer treatments.

Seizures:

Brain tumours can cause things in the brain to push on nerves or get crammed together. When that happens, it can interfere with the electrical signals from one nerve to another and result in a seizure. Sometimes, patients with brain tumours experience their first seizure. Seizures do not always mean that the tumour is the cause. About 50% of people who have a brain tumour experience it.

Fatigue:

Fatigue is more than feeling a little tired. If you find yourself feeling tired even after you've had some rest, or have also been experiencing changes in sleeping habits, there are some other signs that might be true fatigue.

• You seem very tired. Is there anything bothering you lately?
• You're feeling tired and your limbs are heavy.

Persistent tiredness can be a sign of cancer, but this is unlikely to be the first symptom. Cancer-causing fatigue is often referred to as "CFS" or "cancer-related fatigue".

Depression:

The relationship between depression and people with brain tumors is complicated. Depression can occur in the person diagnosed with a brain tumor and in family members and caregivers during treatment. The main symptoms of depression in these individuals include:
This can appear as:

• Feelings of sadness that last a while or feel out of proportion to the negative situation can be signs of depression.
• People suffering from depression often feel detached from the things they used to find enjoyable.
• Lack of energy or trouble sleeping is the most common sleep-depriving symptom.

Nausea and vomiting:

Nausea and vomiting are sometimes experienced in the early stages of tumour growth. A tumour can cause hormonal or pressure changes that lead to this issue.

Vomiting is the forceful discharge of stomach contents through one's mouth and sometimes nasal passages. When a person has cancer, they have a strong desire for it.
Some symptoms are there that will appear on the basis of the location of the tumour. These are discussed below.

Symptoms based on tumor location

Some symptoms may give clues as to where the tumour is located in the brain (this doesn't necessarily mean that they are). But some symptoms that indicate it are as follows:

Vision problems:

Problems with vision can be caused by a variety of conditions. The most common is macular degeneration, which is the breakdown of cells in the retina. A tumour located in or around the pituitary gland, optic nerve, occipital lobe, or temporal lobe can also cause problems with vision.

Speech, reading, and writing difficulties:

There are a number of causes for difficulties with speech and comprehension, such as tumors near the temporal lobe or parietal lobe.

Problems with hearing:

A tumour near the cranial nerves or temporal lobe may cause a person to experience word-finding difficulties, which can impact their writing ability.

Swallowing problems:

A tumour near the cerebellum, or in or near the cranial nerves, can cause symptoms like headaches, balance problems, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and other symptoms.

The trouble with movement:

Many neurological diseases can be caused by tumours that are located near the cerebellum, frontal lobe, or brainstem. One such disease is called Cerebellar Ataxia, and has been shown to be caused by a tumour in the cerebellum.

Balance issues:

Balance issues can occur for a variety of reasons, but if the symptoms are persistent, they may indicate something more serious. The location of the tumour can be determined using an MRI scan.

Facial numbness, weakness, or pain:

A tumour involving the brainstem is usually quite serious and may also occur with symptoms of headaches, double vision, vertigo, difficulty swallowing or speaking.

What are the most common causes of brain tumors?

Brain tumours are common, but most of them are benign. They are often discovered incidentally through brain imaging for other reasons.
The most common causes of brain tumours in the population are unknown, but we know that head trauma and exposure to certain chemicals can increase your risk of developing a tumour.

Whom to approach?

For a person noticing such symptoms, it is important to reach out to the doctor immediately. They will tell you how to prevent brain tumours and then start the treatment. But the major concern is how to approach them. Well, Jaipur is the city you cannot miss when searching for a neurosurgeon.

You can contact Dr. Himanshu Gupta, one of the best neurosurgeons in Jaipur, and start the treatment. He has years of experience in treating such conditions and can help you to get the best treatment to live your life peacefully and get rid of it too.

Most Asked Questions 

Q - How do you know if you have a brain tumor?

Ans - There are some symptoms that are more likely to have a brain tumour. These are:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Feeling unsteady or lightheaded
• Losing balance
• Problems with movement or coordination
• Vision problems, such as blurry vision, tunnel vision, double vision
• Sensitivity to light or noise

Q- What are the most common types of brain tumors?

Ans - The most common types of brain tumours are glioblastoma, anaplastic astrocytoma, and meningiomas.
Different types of brain tumours have different symptoms. For instance, glioblastomas can cause seizures and speech impairment while meningiomas might cause headaches or dizziness.

Q- How do you treat a brain tumor?

Ans - Treating brain tumours requires a multidisciplinary approach. The treatment should be staged, guided by the patient's age and performance status. It may also require surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The patient should also be monitored for mental and neurological changes, which can happen even after successful treatment.