Consultant
Neurophysician Medical Director and Head Research and Development, Dr.
Syed Irfan Ali underlined the need of adopting effective strategy over
increasing cases of Brain Tumor adding that the people could avoid the
disease by adopting preventive measures.
Talking to this scribe here on Friday, he said that with
tumors elsewhere in the body, the exact cause of most brain tumors is
unknown and many of the factors have been proposed as possible risk
factors for primary brain tumors, but whether some factors actually
increase an individual's risk of a brain tumor is not known for sure.
About the causes of Brain
Cancer, he said Radiation to the head an inherited (genetic) risk, HIV
infection, Cigarette smoking and environmental toxins (for example,
chemicals used in oil refineries, embalming chemicals, rubber industry
chemicals), he added.
About the brain cancer symptoms Dr.Syed Irfan Ali informed
that not all brain tumors cause symptoms and some are found mainly after
death.
He said
that the symptoms of brain tumors are numerous and not specific to brain
tumors, meaning they can be caused by many other illnesses as well.
The only way to know for sure
what is causing the symptoms is to undergo diagnostic testing. He said
that the symptoms are caused by the tumor pressing on or encroaching on
other parts of the brain and keeping them from functioning normally.
Some symptoms are caused by
swelling in the brain caused by the tumor or surrounding inflammation
and the symptoms of primary and metastasis brain cancers are similar, he
said adding some symptoms are most common included Headache, Weakness,
clumsiness, Difficulty walking and, Seizures.
About the brain cancer treatment
Dr. Irfan Ali informed that treatment for brain cancer should be
individualized for each patient.
He said that treatment regimens are based on the patient's
age and general health status as well as the size, location, type, and
grade of the tumor.
In
most cases of brain cancer, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are
the main types of treatment. Often, more than one treatment type is
used, added.
He
said that cancers of the brain are the consequence of abnormal growths
of cells in the brain although many growths in the brain are popularly
called brain tumors, not all brain tumors are cancerous.
He said that malignant tumors
grow and spread aggressively, overpowering healthy cells by taking their
space, blood, and nutrients and this is especially a problem in the
brain, as the added growth within the closed confines of the skull can
lead to an increase in intracranial pressure or the distortion of
surrounding vital structures, causing their malfunction, Dr.Irfan said.
He said that the most common
cancers that spread to the brain are those arising from the lung,
breast, and kidney as well as malignant melanoma.
The cells spread to the brain
from another tumor in a process called metastasis and these cancer cells
eventually reach the brain tissue through the bloodstream where they
develop into tumors.
He said that the most widely used treatments are surgery,
radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. In some cases, more than one of
these treatment types are used and the most people with a brain tumor
undergo surgery.
He
said that the purposes of surgery are to confirm that the abnormality
seen on the brain scan is indeed a tumor, to assign a grade to the
tumor, and to remove the tumor and in some cases, mostly in benign
tumors, symptoms can be completely cured by surgical removal of the
tumor.
A
neurosurgeon will attempt to remove the tumor when possible, Neurologist
said.
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