Brain Tumour

There are over 100 types of brain tumours. Brain tumours usually occur in adults ages 35 and older. However, brain tumours are not common in young people.

The most common symptoms of brain tumours include:

• Headaches, usually worse in the morning
• Trouble thinking or remembering
• Trouble talking
• Change in personality
• Seizures or convulsions, causing weakness, numbness or loss of consciousness
• Vision problems
• Paralysis or weakness on one side of the body
• Loss of balance or coordination
• Nausea and/or vomiting, usually worse in the morning

Half of the tumours that begin in the brain are benign, which means not cancerous. Neurological surgeons are the specialists that treat brain tumours. These surgeons usually treat benign tumours with an operation to remove the tumour.

Malignant brain tumours are cancer and can be treated. The surgeons usually begin with an operation to remove the tumour and then use radiation therapy and chemotherapy to help eradicate any leftover tumour or cancer cells.

Scientific testing continues to try and learn what causes brain tumours and how to stop their growth. Currently, scientists are focusing on the DNA inside the tumour cells because most brain tumours seem to have an abnormal chromosome somewhere in their DNA.