These can be the symptoms of brain tumor/ What is brain tumor? Treatment and healing process
Brain tumor may be defined as the growth of abnormal cells in brain. Brain tumor has benign and malign varieties. The malign ones are defined as cancer cells. The benign and malign tumors may cause a pressure in the skull when they grow. This situation causes brain injury and threatens life.
Memorial Şişli Hospital Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Department Chair Prof. Dr. Engin Çakar made significant suggestions regarding brain tumor.
Types of Brain Tumor
There are different kinds of brain tumors. These may be classified as:
Primary Brain Tumor
This contains any tumor started in brain. This tumor may start from the brain cells, the membranes, nerves or tissues around brain. Tumors cause brain damage by eliminating brain cells. The primary brain tumors seen especially in adults are meningioma and gliomas.
Glioma: This is a tumor type which occurs in brain and spinal cord. Gliomas start in the adhesive supportive cells which encounter neurons and help them to run (glial cells).
Meningioma: Consisting more than 30% of all the brain tumors, this is the most common type of primary brain tumor. Meningioma is caused by the meninx, which is the membrane cover that encounters and protects the brain. Cases of meningioma are diagnosed in women more frequently than men. 85% of meningioma cases are non-cancerous, slowly growing tumors.
Symptoms of Brain Tumor
Symptoms may vary according to the size, location and type of tumor. Symptoms can be classified as:
- Headache
- Narcolepsy
- Feeling ill all the time
- Vomiting and numbness
- Memory problems, mental or behavioral changes
- Progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Visual or speech impairments
In some people, no symptoms are seen in the beginning. The concrete symptoms may develop in time and gradually.
Risk Factors of Brain Tumor
Some of the cancer types can be genetic. It is important especially for the persons with the history of brain tumor in more than one person in their family not to neglect their periodical controls. The frequency of brain tumor may increase with aging, being exposed to chemicals lifelong and radiation.
Treatment of Brain Tumor
Treatment of brain tumor aims to get rid of the tumor as possible and prevent the repetition of the tumor.
The types of treatment of brain tumor can be classified as:
Surgical Treatment: A small part of the skull is entered and the tissue with tumor is taken out.
Radiotherapy: This can be used to kill the cancerous cells before or after the operation.
Chemotherapy: This is a drug therapy to kill the cancerous cells after the operation or alleviate the symptoms if the tumor cannot be taken out.
Radio-Surgery: If you cannot have a surgical operation, it is aimed to kill the cancer with many small radiation rays.
Healing Process of Brain Tumor
Brain tumor is a type of tumor which takes time to be healed in comparison with the other tumor types after the operation. Process of healing may differ from person to person. There are some factors which affect the healing process:
- Location of the brain tumor,
- The brain areas affected during the operation,
- Age of the person,
- General health condition and medical history of the person
While some people can be discharged from the hospital after the assessment of their medical conditions following the brain tumor operation, some patients may need Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation.
Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation after Brain Tumor Primary Treatment
After the primary treatment of the brain tumor with surgery or other methods, there can be some functional losses in patients according to the tissues which the tumor has given harm.
Some situations like a partial or complete paralysis may happen. In this case, a physical therapy and rehabilitation program should be initiated according to the needs of the patient as soon as possible. Generally, physical therapy and rehabilitation program necessitates a cooperative work among the many branches like robotic rehabilitation, physiotherapy, Ergotherapy, speech and swallowing therapy.
REFERENCES
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/brain-tumours/
https://www.engincakar.com/beyin-hasari/beyin-tumoru/
https://istanbulrehab.com/tedaviler/beyin-tumoru-sonrasi-tedavi/
https://www.doktorfizik.com/inme/beyin-tumoru-tipleri/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brain-tumor/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20350088
Prepared by the Medical Editorial Board. Our health library contents have been prepared for informational purposes only and with the scientific content on the registration date. For all your questions, concerns, diagnosis or treatment about your health, please consult your doctor or health institution.
