The first signs of a brain tumor

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

A brain tumor scares many. It is the most dangerous type of cancer, but also the most difficult to diagnose. You cannot palpate, as is the case with the internal organs. There are no skin manifestations. If there is a suspicion that a brain tumor is developing in the body, the symptoms should be checked early in an adult.

Brain cancer: an overview

Brain cancer is not a name for a disease, but a definition for a whole "family" of disorders. In the cranium, neoplasms such as glioblastoma, glioma, and hemangioma can appear. The types of tumors are named for the types of tissue that are transformed during the development of the disease. Each ailment has its own symptoms.

All symptoms of a brain tumor in adults in the early stages are associated with tissue compression. The neoplasm grows and begins to put pressure on the vessels and nerve endings. Depending on where the malignant process is localized, sensory disorders, pain, and coordination disorders can be observed. For example, if a tumor develops in the area of the optic nerves, the patient may experience darkening in the eyes, a reduction in the field of view.

The symptoms listed below are not sufficient grounds for a diagnosis.

To accurately identify the tumor, the oncologist prescribes an MRI of the brain. The procedure allows you to detect foci of tissue transformation.

Early symptoms

The difficulty in diagnosing a brain tumor is that in the early stages, symptoms in adults are nonspecific. Nonspecific symptoms are signs that occur in a wide variety of conditions. For example, the most common disorder in the development of a neoplasm is headache. But this symptom is also found in migraines, poisoning, stress, overexertion of vision and many other conditions.

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Although early symptoms will prevent a diagnosis, they will prompt the patient to see a therapist. Further diagnostics are carried out using MRI equipment.

If you experience one or more of the listed signs on an ongoing basis, you should consult a physician.

Sensory impairment

Sensory abnormalities are disorders of taste, hearing, vision. They rarely occur all together, since the parts of the brain that are responsible for different feelings are located at points distant from each other.

The most common visual impairment. Due to the increased pressure in the skull, flies appear before the eyes. Fields of view are reduced: one or both eyes partially lose peripheral vision. In the most serious disorders, peripheral vision disappears on both the right and left in both eyes.

The patient may not notice this deviation for a long time. It is masked by the brain, which tries to compensate for the image using information from a healthy eye.

Another type of sensory deviation is hearing impairment. Variations:

• hearing loss;
• complete hearing loss in one or both ears;
• unreasonable ringing in the ears, noise;
• feeling of stuffiness.

There are also deviations in taste perception. The patient may completely lose taste or feel dull on certain foods.

The last type of sensory impairment is touch dysfunction. Examples of this dysfunction are lack of pain. Sensations on one side of the body may be completely lost. If the left arm and leg do not feel anything, it means that the neoplasm is localized on the right, and vice versa.

Convulsions and other nervous abnormalities

A person with brain cancer can be confused with an epileptic or drunk. And all because the nerve endings stop transmitting signals correctly. There are two options for the development of events: either the person has difficulty in coordination, or the nervous system is overloaded and seizures begin.

Coordination disorder options:

1. Slow signal transmission. A person wants to raise his hand, but does not raise it immediately, but after 1-2 seconds. The delay is very small, but it affects the quality of life. Another variant of delayed signaling, which is more common in the early stages, is delayed reflexes. For example, when tapping with a hammer on the knee, the leg jerks not immediately, with a delay.
2. Complete cessation of the transmission of nerve signals. A certain part of the body stops obeying, paralysis occurs. At the beginning of development, the symptoms of the disease are paroxysmal in nature, do not last long.
3. Incorrect command execution. The fingers may not be clenched, but unclenched, the hand may not bend to the left, but to the right, and so on.

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Seizures of the epileptic type occur in 6% of cases. Due to the accelerated electrical exchange, the nervous system abruptly generates several chaotic signals. As a result, the leg, arm may begin to move uncontrollably, and facial cramps are also encountered.

Deviations of speech and facial expressions are less common. Some facial muscles may stop working, which is expressed in a frozen face and incorrect diction.

Headaches, nausea and disorientation

More than 60% of adults with an early brain tumor have symptoms such as headache and pressure in the skull. Normal headaches are not dangerous. Cancer patients are characterized by sharp pain sensations that occur at night or in the morning.

The attacks are accompanied by nausea or vomiting, which has nothing to do with food intake.

The pressing tumor affects the vestibular apparatus. Because of this, dizziness begins. It may seem that objects are spinning around, or the patient himself is spinning.

Mental abnormalities and memory loss

Approximately 15-20% of patients gradually develop behavioral abnormalities. It can cause both sensory hallucinations and serious character changes. Sensory hallucinations include:

• sensation of taste at the moment when the patient does not consume food;
• it happens that when eating fruit, a person feels the taste of meat.

Auditory and visual hallucinations are more dangerous. They can be of a different nature: from everyday situations to unrealistic images. Auditory hallucinations are mild in the early stages. These can be short sounds that go unnoticed by the patient.

Apathy develops in 15% of patients. Behavior changes: an always tidy person stops taking care of himself. The more the tumor develops, the more noticeable the change in character becomes. Aggression may progress. There are outbursts of anger, often unfounded. As a side effect, there is insomnia or, on the contrary, a constant desire to sleep.

There are cases when a person with brain cancer was mistaken for a patient with mental disabilities.

Another symptom associated with consciousness is memory loss. The patient may notice short gaps behind him: it is not clear what he has been doing for the last 5 or 10 minutes. Longer failures also occur. Complete amnesia is not typical for the initial stages.

There are many myths about a brain tumor in adults, as well as its symptoms in its early stages. Some people believe that head injuries or sleeping with the phone under the pillow increase the risk of developing the disease. Others mistakenly assume that an MRI of the brain every year will reduce the likelihood of neoplasms.

In fact, injuries and lifestyle choices do not affect the health of the brain, and regular check-ups will not do any good. You need to go to the doctor if there is a reason for this, any of the listed symptoms on an ongoing basis.

Bonus

From all of the above, conclusions can be drawn from what the following early symptoms of brain cancer look like:

1. Loss of coordination, impaired vision, hearing, touch and taste.
2. Mental abnormalities, character change.
3. Constant discomfort in the head area, unreasonable nausea and vomiting.
4. Violations of facial expressions and speech.