Not long ago, the famous Taiwanese writer Li Ao unfortunately passed away due to a brain tumor. The great writer, who was always bold in fighting against fate, eventually bowed to fate because of a brain tumor and left the world forever, which made people sigh.
One wonders what kind of disease is brain tumor? Is it a terminal disease? What are the symptoms in the early stage? What are the preventive measures that need to be taken in life …… Today we are going to give you some information.
What is a brain tumor?
Brain tumor is an intracranial tumor, craniocerebral tumor, which is a new organism growing in the cranial cavity. It can originate from various tissues in the skull and is called primary intracranial tumor. It can occur in all age groups, but is most common in people aged 20 to 40. It can also spread from other parts of the body and is called metastatic or secondary intracranial tumor.
The incidence of primary intracranial tumors is low, about 10/100,000-30/100,000 in China. Among brain stem tumors, the most common one is glioblastoma. People usually think that brain tumors are highly malignant and have poor treatment outcome, which actually refers to this type of tumors.
Is brain tumor a terminal disease?
Because of the special location, many people may be stunned when they hear the word “brain tumor”. But in fact, brain tumor does not mean terminal illness.
Brain tumors are tumors that occur in the brain, including tumors that originate in the nervous system, and brain metastases that occur in other parts of the brain. Other benign tumors such as meningioma, pituitary tumor, nerve sheath tumor, craniopharyngioma, etc. are very effective and may be cured. Therefore, after discovering a brain tumor, it is correct to cooperate with the doctor actively for treatment instead of giving up.
What are the early manifestations of brain tumor?
The brain is the commander-in-chief of human activities, it is in charge of our higher functions, cognitive functions, thinking ability, understanding ability, memory ability, and manages the movement of all our organs and limbs. Therefore, once a tumor appears in the brain, its manifestations are very complicated and diverse, but there are still some common symptoms.
1. Morning headache
When you wake up, you will often have headache, and the headache will be relieved after you get up, and the headache will be reduced or gradually disappear after afternoon.
2.Loss of vision, double vision
In the early stage of brain tumor, patients will have transient vision loss, and with the development of the disease, vision will gradually decrease or even go blind. In addition, patients will also have double vision and double shadow when looking at any object.
3. Jet vomiting
When the patient has a severe headache, he or she will vomit and the headache will be relieved after vomiting.
4.Protrusion of one eye
Eye protrusion is a common symptom of brain tumor. The eyeball of one eye will protrude forward, which will not only cause incomplete eyelid closure, but also may lead to lid fissure.
5. Unilateral deafness
If there is no history of otitis media or ear trauma, but hearing loss in one ear gradually or tinnitus, it is mostly caused by the tumor in the brain compressing the hearing nerve.
6. Seizure
If there is no other external cause for adult seizure, it should be considered as a result of brain tumor.
7.Hemiparesis
The symptoms of hemiplegia caused by brain tumor can be divided into two kinds, one is hemiplegia or hemiplegia, and the other is disorder of one side of the limb, the former manifests as little or no movement of the diseased side of the limb, and the latter manifests as unstable or stupid movement.
8.Acromegaly
The main manifestations of acromegaly are: thick and thick hands and feet, protruding eyebrows and jaws, and ugly appearance. Acromegaly is a typical clinical sign of eosinophilic pituitary tumor.
9. Amenorrhea and lactation
If a non-pregnant woman in the reproductive stage has symptoms of amenorrhea and lactation, the possibility of brain tumor development cannot be excluded. In case of male patients, there may be impotence, thickening of subcutaneous fat, loss of pubic hair, axillary hair and beard, etc.
What tests are needed for suspected brain tumor
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI examination)
When a doctor suspects a patient has a brain tumor, an MRI is usually performed to find out whether there are lesions in the brain, the location and size of the lesions, and whether they affect the surrounding tissues. to decide the next step of treatment.
CT of the skull and brain
CT may also be performed when there is a suspicion that the bone is affected by a tumor, there is bleeding, etc., or the patient is claustrophobic and other reasons why an MRI cannot be performed.
In addition, depending on the case, tests such as PET may be performed to learn more about the tumor.
What are the conventional treatments for brain tumors?
Surgical treatment
Brain tumors are difficult to treat because of their location, especially brainstem tumors, which are often considered off-limits for surgery because of the many nuclei, conduction tracts and reticular structures surrounding them, resulting in a high rate of disability, complications and poor prognosis. However, with the development of microscopic neurosurgery technology, surgical treatment of even brainstem tumors has made great progress, especially for more limited, nodular and well-differentiated brainstem tumors, timely surgical resection is recommended.
Except for primary glioma which is not very effective in treatment, some other benign brain tumors such as meningioma, pituitary tumor, nerve sheath tumor, hemangioma, etc. are still very effective in treatment and have a high cure rate after surgery.