Brain Tumors
by Xavier Blasingame
What is it?
A brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain. While there are different types of tumors that can be in the brain, there are 2 main groups of brain tumors, primary and secondary. A primary tumor is a tumor that arises in the brain. It can be either malignant cancer or a benign tumor (begin tumors are noncancerous). A secondary is a tumor that spreads to the brain from another cancerous site in the body. All secondary tumors are malignant and metastatic cancers.
Body systems that are affected by Brain Tumors and how they are affected.
Who does Brain Tumors affect?
Brain tumors are rare, affecting just 27 in every 100,000 U.S. men. It's an illness of middle age. 56 is the median age of diagnosis. It affects only 200 to 300 children a year. There was an increase in brain tumors among Americans in the under-30 age group. Certain tumors, like meningiomas, are twice as likely to develop in women. Medulloblastomas are more commonly found in males. In general, the frequency of getting a brain tumor increases with age, with more occurrences in individuals age 65 and older. Adults have a very low risk of developing medulloblastomas, while gliomas are most common in adults. It is not specific to one race.
How are Brain Tumors created (onset).
Diagnosis, signs, and symptoms.
There are many signs that you have a brain tumor for instance brain tumors cause memory problems. Generally a tumor that affects memory would be located in the left frontal lobe of the brain. What symptom you have is based on what part of the brain the tumor is arising from. Some symptoms may be headaches, vomiting, changes in speech, vision, or hearing. Problems balancing or walking. Changes in mood, personality, or ability to concentrate.
Treatment, prognosis, and connections.
Nanotherapy, When a tumour is buried deep within the brain, removing it risks causing brain damage. It involves injecting tiny metallic spheres -- just 12 nanometres across -- into tumours. When agitated these spheres heat up to 80 °C -- enough to cook and cauterise a tumour from the inside. Anti-cancer hat. It usually only adds months to life, effectively slowing but not killing the cancer. This approach uses a person's own immune system to attack their cancer and injecting personalised vaccine called DCVax into the body. It hits cancer cells' ability to divide by targeting their blood supply. Chemotherapy uses a drug that kills the cancer cells (it kills any fast growing cells) and can be taken in many different forms such as pills and injections this is one of the most effective ways to kill cancer. Radiation uses radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells and Surgery is used to cut out the tumor.
The prognosis for people with a brain tumor can be different depending on what type of brain tumor you have and where it is located. In cases of aggressive brain tumors it is from less than 10% to about 32% survival, despite aggressive surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy treatments. Radiation after surgery will probably increase a patients expected survival. Chemotherapy can further extend life for some patients when given during and/or after radiation therapy.
My life has been affected by brain tumors. My cousin has a malignant brain tumor around the Brain Stem. Her condition is 100% fatal because malignant brain cancer is the most deadly type of tumor and the doctors can’t remove it without killing her. I selected this condition because I enjoy things related to the brain and the disease that came to my mind when thinking about the brain was brain cancer.
Works Cited
Ebsco Resources
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