A brain tumor is a condition that can be life-threatening. However, there are chances for one’s survival if the same is detected at an early stage. The diagnosis of the tumor is often done by a neurosurgeon or neurologist using various kinds of tests, and they move forward with a treatment path as per the stage and nature of the brain tumor.

Brain tumors can be classified as benign and malignant. While benign tumors are non-cancerous in nature, the malignant tumors are cancerous. Out of more than 160 different types of tumors, only some 40 are malignant in nature.

Tumors are analyzed as per their stage or graded from I to IV. Here grade I is the initial stage and grade IV is considered as the most aggressive and the most life-threatening stage. Within various tests performed, a neurologist or neurosurgeon examines these cells under a microscope to check the abnormality, which even depicts the magnitude of the aggressiveness of the tumor. At stage IV, the cells appear the most abnormal and are, therefore, the most aggressive.

Symptoms of a brain tumor
The symptoms of a brain tumor broadly depend  on the following factors:

• Size
• Type
• Location

The following are some of the most common symptoms, the frequency of which may signal towards a probable case of brain tumor:

• Seizures
• Headaches
• Numbness or tingling sensation in the arms and legs
• Problems with memorizing even minute day-to-day things
• Mood swings and alterations in the personality
• Frequent nausea and vomiting
• Changes in speech
• Impaired vision or hearing

A brain tumor can affect adults as well as children. A brief overview of the occurrences of the cases among these two groups has been given below.

Children:  If a child receives radiations in the head or has been born with rare genetic conditions like Li-Fraumeni syndrome or neurofibromatosis, he or she might be at a higher risk of developing a brain tumor. Although of the 28,000 tumor cases occurring each year in the country alone, the cases occurring among children comprise a small fraction.

Adults:  As reported and observed, adults between the age of 65 and 79 are more likely to have a brain tumor.

A brain tumor’s effect on different locations of the brain
If one has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, one may ask their doctor to locate the exact part of the brain where the tumor has developed. This is because as the tumor grows, it may even affect the other surrounding tissues and hamper the functions of those parts as well.

Below mentioned are a few examples of locations, which if affected by a tumor, may cause certain changes.

Frontal lobe

• Weakness on one or both the sides of the body
• Irritation or increased amount of aggression
• Inability to smell things
• Alterations in the personality

Temporal lobe

• Seizures that may occur when one smells something strange or feels something strange
• Short-term memory loss

Parietal lobe

• Some part of the body may become completely numb or one may not be able to feel anything in that particular part
• One may find it very difficult to speak or even comprehend things
• One may face difficulties with writing and reading

Occipital lobe

• Issues with sight

Cerebellum

• Stiffness in the neck
• Uncontrolled movement of the eye
• Vomiting and nausea
• Dizziness
• Coordination issues