World Brain Tumour Day: From vision changes, hearing loss to anger & depression - here are symptoms you must not ignore

Hearing problems, vision changes, difficulty balancing, convulsions and vomiting – although none of these seem like a problem that can be associated with your brain, they are in many cases, pronounced signs of brain tumour.

Brain tumour, like any other kind of tumour, is a collection of abnormal cells that grow inside your skull. These tumours can in some cases be malignant in nature and therefore it is important to spot them early and treat them with urgency.

On World Brain Tumour Day, Et Panache spoke to experts to understand how brain tumour manifests itself and what is the course of action if you are diagnosed with one.


Early Signs
Dr VP Singh, Chairman at the Institute of Neurosciences, Medanta Hospital, Gurugram says that the most common early symptoms of brain tumour is caused due to raised intracranial pressure in the brain. The symptoms include headaches, vomiting, vision disturbances, nausea, and behavioural disturbances.

One of the toughest things is to identify a brain tumour in kids. “In young children and youngsters’ failure to thrive, inactivity, fatigue, frequent headaches, tingling or weakness in the arms, and irritability are signs of a brain tumour. However, it is hard to identify these symptoms in children, as they cannot always express their discomfort correctly,” said Dr Singh.

In advanced cases, the patient loses control of urine and stools. All these symptoms are related to the pressure generated by tumor in the brain, explained the doctor.

Other Physical & Psychological Markers
Dr Ganesh Veerabhadraiah, Consultant - Brain & Spine - Neuroendovascular Surgery, Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham Road, Bangalore says that if someone’s brain tumors affect frontal lobes, the tumour causes hydrocephalus – a buildup of fluid in the cavities (ventricles) deep within the brain. Patients may have behaviour abnormalities like mood changes, anger, irritability, depression,drowsiness etc following that condition.

Brain tumor is suspected and diagnosed based on symptoms such as the nature of headaches along with vomiting and associated neurological problems like seizures, limb weakness, vision, hearing etc, says Dr Veerabhadraiah and adds that brain tumor can be diagnosed with a CT or MRI Scan.

“Not all brain tumors are fatal. However they can lead to several day-to-day issues. Lifestyle issues associated with brain tumors may include memory disturbances, lack in focus, issues with vision especially with occipital lobe tumors, hearing problems with acoustic tumors etc,” adds the doctor.

Types of Brain Tumours
Dr. Pravin Tukaram Survashe, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Manipal Hospitals, Kharadi, Pune says that there are two types of Brain Tumors – benign and malignant.

“Benign brain tumors include meningioma, schwanomma ependymoma etc. There is absolutely no reason for the existence of these tumors and the aetiopathogenesis of them is not exactly known. However, a good thing about them is that they can be surgically removed in most cases, and no further treatment is required,” said Dr Survashe.

“The other types of tumors are malignant and include gliomas. These are cancers of brain tissue. These tumors occur because of some mutations. Treatment for such tumors is removal followed by radiotherapy depending upon grade of cancer. Low grade cancers have good life expectancy. Complete removal followed by Chemo and radiotherapy gives good results,” he concludes.