Brain Tumor Action Week



Each year over 190,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Brain tumors are a leading cause of tumor cancer deaths in children. Brain tumors are also the third main cause of cancer death in adults within the 20-39 age bracket.

Brain Tumor Action Week seeks to raise awareness about brain tumors, including raising awareness about incidence, diagnosis, treatment and care of people suffering from brain tumors.

Specialty care and follow up care, rehabilitative services and clinical trials are activities which can enhance the quality of life of people living with brain tumors.

Brain Tumor Quick Facts:
Types Of Brain Tumors
Brain tumors are either primary or metastatic tumors. Primary brain tumors are those which originate in the brain. Metastatic brain tumors are those which originate from cancerous cells that have migrated from other areas of the body.

Metastatic brain tumors are also known as secondary brain tumors. Not all brain tumors are cancerous. Benign brain tumors are non cancerous tissue and are harmful only when they grow to a size which affects adjacent areas of the brain. Benign brain tumors tend to grow more slowly than malignant (cancerous) brain tumors.

Brain Tumor Warning Signs
Raising awareness of brain tumors includes educating the public on the warning signs of brain tumors. In approximately 30-40% of cases the first warning sign of a brain tumor is a seizure.

Early warning signs include:

seizures
headaches
fatigue, tiredness and drowsiness
impaired speech
difficulties when swallowing
in infants, an increase in head size
impaired vision
vomiting
poor body coordination
behavioral and mood changes
weakness in a limb or on one side of the body
difficulties with balance
tingling sensations and/or weakness in the arms or legs
Treating Brain Tumors
With over 120 different forms of brain tumor, effectively treating them can become very complicated.

Protron treatment for a brain tumor is a precise method of using proton therapy to deliver powerful doses of radiation to the tumor. The precision this delivery of treatment brings, means there is minimal effect of the surrounding healthy brain tissue.

Dosage of radiation can be tailored to each tumor. Other treatments include surgical removal, chemotherapy, radio therapy or a combination of these methods.

Info from: http://www.whathealth.com/awareness/event/braintumour.html

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