Brain Tumor

Special greetings to you my dear friends. It's the season of love.... I can feel love in the air. Trusting God we are all doing good.
It's a pleasure to also participate in this contest; brain tumor organized by #khursheedanwar.

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The human brain is a complex, delicate organ that is responsible for controlling our thoughts and emotions, movements as well as functions. The bran is enclosed within a skull and has an approximate weight of about 1.4kg and contains several billions of specialized cells called neurons that aid in the processing and transmittion of information. The major parts of the brain include the cerebellum, cerebrum and the brain stem.

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Brain Tumor

Brain tumor is a mass or collection of abnormal growth of cells in the brain. The skull which encloses the brain is very strong and once there is a growth that occurs within this restricted region, it often causes serious health issues. Once there is a growth inside the brain, the intra cranial pressure increases which is life threatening as this can cause brain damage.

God is so wonderful that he made the human body in such a way that normal cells grow old and gets destroyed or they die and when they do, new cells take their place. This is called apoptosis (programmed cell death). But when new cells form when they body doesn't need them and old or damaged cells refused to die when they should, there is often a build up of extra cells which usually forms a mass of tissue. This is called growth or tumor.

Classification of brain tumor

Basically, brain tumors are classified into two major categories:
1. Primary brain tumor: This type of tumor can either be benign or malignant and this often originates from the central nervous system. Benign brain tumors do not contain cancer cells but malignant brain tumors do. Malignant brain tumors are also regarded as brain cancer and they tend to be more serious and are life threatening. Examples of primary brain tumor include: gliomas, astrocytomas, glioblastoma multiforme, meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, schwannomas, pituitary central nervous system lymphoma.
2. Secondary brain tumors: These are also known as metastatic brain tumor. They originates from malignancies which are outside the central nervous system and spreads to the brain which is usually through the arterial circulation.

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Signs and symptoms of brain tumor

The symptoms of brain tumor often depend on the size of and location of the tumor. Some common symptoms include:

1. Headaches which usually occurs in the morning.
2. Nausea and vomiting
3. Problems balancing when walking
4. Changes in speech, vision and hearing
5. Memory problems
6. Numbness or tingling in the legs and arms.
7. Seizure

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Risk factors for brain tumor

Risk factors are conditions that often increases the chances of one getting the medical condition. Research has shown that the following are risk factors for brain tumor:
1. Ionizing radiation: Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation such as X-rays and other rays can damage the brain cells which can result to brain tumor.
2. Family history: Though this is often rare for brapn tumors to run in a family, research has shown that a few family still have such history.
3. Genetic conditions: Some genetic conditions like neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis and hippel-lindau disease often increases the risk of brain tumors.
4. Weak immune system: People with a week immune system have a higher risk of developing brain tumors.

Treatment

The type of treatment technique to be applied is dependent on the histological type of the tumor, the location of the tumor, the grade and size of the tumor, age of onset as well as the medical hisyory of the patient.

Some major treatment technique include:

1. Traditional surgery: The primary objective of this surgery is for maximal tumor resection and ensure minimal amount of damage to the neural or supporting structures.
2. Chemotherapy: This can be administered via different routes. Most chemotherapy agents are given intravenously through a peripheral or intravenous line or through a catheter. Chemotherapy drugs impede cellular replication of tumor cells by interfering with their ability to copy DNA and reproduce.
3. Radiation therapy: This can be used alone or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy to treat malignant brain tumors.
4. Stereotactic radiosurgery: This is the delivery of high dose of ionizing radiation in a single fraction to a small but precisely well defined part of the affected tissue. The goal is to arrest tumor growth.

I'll like to invite my friends @deelyt @ashley-p and @vickyson to also participate in this contest.