A brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain.
Many different types of brain tumors exist. Some brain tumors are noncancerous (benign), and some brain tumors are cancerous (malignant). Brain tumors can begin in your brain (primary brain tumors), or cancer can begin in other parts of your body and spread to your brain (secondary, or metastatic, brain tumors).
Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of a brain tumor vary greatly and depend on the brain tumor’s size, location and rate of growth.
General signs and symptoms caused by brain tumors may include:
- New onset or change in pattern of headaches
- Headaches that gradually become more frequent and more severe
- Unexplained nausea or vomiting
- Vision problems, such as blurred vision, double vision or loss of peripheral vision
- Gradual loss of sensation or movement in an arm or a leg
- Difficulty with balance
- Speech difficulties
- Confusion in everyday matters
- Personality or behavior changes
- Seizures, especially in someone who doesn’t have a history of seizures
- Hearing problems
Causes
Brain tumors that begin in the brain
Primary brain tumors originate in the brain itself or in tissues close to it, such as in the brain-covering membranes (meninges), cranial nerves, pituitary gland or pineal gland.
Primary brain tumors begin when normal cells acquire errors (mutations) in their DNA.
These mutations allow cells to grow and divide at increased rates and to continue living when healthy cells would die. The result is a mass of abnormal cells, which forms a tumor.
In adults, primary brain tumors are much less common than are secondary brain
tumors, in which cancer begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain.
Many different types of primary brain tumors exist. Each gets its name from the type of cells involved. Examples include:
- Gliomas. These tumors begin in the brain or spinal cord and include astrocytomas, ependymomas, glioblastomas, oligoastrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas.
- Meningiomas. A meningioma is a tumor that arises from the membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord (meninges). Most meningiomas are noncancerous.
- Acoustic neuromas (schwannomas). These are benign tumors that develop on the nerves that control balance and hearing leading from your inner ear to your brain.
- Pituitary adenomas. These are mostly benign tumors that develop in the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. These tumors can affect the pituitary hormones with effects throughout the body.
- Medulloblastomas. These are the most common cancerous brain tumors in children. A medulloblastoma starts in the lower back part of the brain and tends to spread through the spinal fluid. These tumors are less common in adults, but they do occur.
- Germ cell tumors. Germ cell tumors may develop during childhood where the testicles or ovaries will form. But sometimes germ cell tumors affect other parts of the body, such as the brain.
- Craniopharyngiomas. These rare, noncancerous tumors start near the brain’s pituitary gland, which secretes hormones that control many body functions. As the craniopharyngioma slowly grows, it can affect the pituitary gland and other structures near the brain.
Cancer that begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain
Secondary (metastatic) brain tumors are tumors that result from cancer that starts elsewhere in your body and then spreads (metastasizes) to your brain.Secondary brain tumors most often occur in people who have a history of cancer. But in rare cases, a metastatic brain tumor may be the first sign of cancer that began elsewhere in your body.
In adults, secondary brain tumors are far more common than are primary brain tumors.
Any cancer can spread to the brain, but common types include:
- Breast cancer
- Colon cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Lung cancer
- Melanoma
Risk Factors
In most people with primary brain tumors, the cause of the tumor is not clear. But doctors have identified some factors that may increase your risk of a brain tumor.
Risk Factors Include:
- Exposure to radiation. People who have been exposed to a type of radiation called ionizing radiation have an increased risk of brain tumor. Examples of ionizing radiation include radiation therapy used to treat cancer and radiation exposure caused by atomic bombs.
- Family history of brain tumors. A small portion of brain tumors occurs in people with a family history of brain tumors or a family history of genetic syndromes that increase the risk of brain tumors.
Homeopathic medicines for brain tumour
1. Arnica Montana
Common name: Leopard’s bane
Symptoms: This remedy is best suited to individuals who experience the following symptoms:
- Chronic vertigo
- Persistent nervousness to speak
- Confusion
- Feeling of contraction of the scalp
- Sensation of a cold spot on the forehead
- Objects seem to whirl when walking
- Dizziness on closing the eyes
- Tiredness and fatigue
- Hearing noises
- Aversion to milk and meat
- Fetid breath
- Feeling as if the stomach is pressing against the spine
- Violent coughing
- Black-and-blue marks on skin
- Sleeplessness and restlessness even when tired
- Symptoms get worse on moving and in damp and cold weather
- Discomfort reduced on lying down with the head low
2. Baryta Carb
Common name: Carbonate of baryta
Symptoms: The following symptoms are presented by individuals requiring this remedy:
- Loss of memory and forgetfulness
- Confusion
- Bleeding gums
- Inflammation of the tonsils
- Pain in the throat while swallowing
- Feeling as if the brain is loose
- Feeling lightheaded
- Hair fall, prominently from the crown of the head (Read more: Hair fall causes)
- Vertigo when standing in the sun
- Trouble with hearing
- Pain in ears along with swelling
- Headache upon stooping
- Pain in the forehead and over eyes
- Persistent drowsiness
- Shooting pain in the nape of the neck along with stiffness
- Scalp is sensitive to touch
- Numbness in the forehead and at the root of the nose
- Eruptions and dry scabs on head
- Aching and burning pain in the eyes
- Seeing sparks before eyes, especially in the dark
- Persistent thirst
- Weak digestion
- Symptoms get worse on movement and better on resting
3. Conium Maculatum
Common name: Poison hemlock
Symptoms: Poison hemlock is commonly administered to individuals with the following symptoms:
- Weakness
- Vertigo while lying down
- Vertigo on turning over in bed or turning sideways
- Tightness in temples that gets worse after a meal
- Lancinating pain in the vertex of head
- Sensitivity to noises
- Sudden and severe headache accompanied by nausea and vomiting
- Tearing pain in temples
- Heaviness in the head
- Hair fall
- Pain in the eyes, especially while reading
- Itching below eyes accompanied by a burning sensation
- Objects appear red in colour
- Photophobia which gets worse with the slightest injury
- Tearing and shooting pain in ears
- Swelling in nostrils
- Persistent constipation
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain along with violent cough
- Fits of suffocation
- Palpitations
- Stiffness and tension in the nape of the neck
- Cramps in the back
- Disturbed sleep
- Drowsiness during daytime
- Feeling hot and sweating excessively
- Frequent episodes of heartburn, usually during bedtime
4. Hydrastis Canadensis
Common name: Goldenseal
Symptoms: The following symptoms can be remedied with the help of hydrastis canadensis:
- Depression accompanied by forgetfulness
- Growing irritability
- Dull and pressing pain in the forehead
- Pain in scalp
- Pain in neck muscles
- Roaring sound in ears
- Dull and heavy pain in the left side of head
- Burning sensation in eyes along with excessive watering (Read more: Watery
- eyes treatment)
- Thick secretion travelling down the throat from nose
- Bitter taste in the mouth
- Heavy and dull ache in the lumbar region of the back
- Tendency to use arms to get up comfortably
- Persistent constipation
- Skin ulcers
- Palpitations along with dizziness
- Back pain which gets better with walking
- Restless sleep
5. Kali Iodatum
Common name: Iodide of potassium
Symptoms: The following symptoms can be noted in patients who respond well to kali iodatum:
- Sadness and anxiety
- Loss of memory
- Impaired and slow speech
- Intellectual weakness
- Headache due to mental strain
- Vertigo, especially when travelling by train
- Headache, which gets worse mostly at 5 am
- Severe headache along with a sensation of coldness in the affected region
- Throbbing pain on one side of the forehead
- Tearing pain in the left temple at 6 am
- Pain in the scalp on touching or scratching
- Headaches that improves in open air
- Heaviness in the head in evenings
- Formation of lumps on the skull
- Changes in hair colour accompanied by hair loss
- Protruding eyes
- Pain in the eyeballs
- Swelling of eyelids
- Dim vision
- Ringing and buzzing sounds in ears (Read more: Ringing ears treatment)
- Piercing pain in right ear
- Loss of hearing
- Itching in left ear
- Swelling in throat
- Restless sleep
6. Plumbum Metallicum
Common name: Lead
Symptoms: The following symptoms can be noted in individuals requiring this remedy:
- Persistent sadness and depression
- Slow perception of things and concepts
- Loss of memory
- Mental confusion
- Heaviness in the head
- Dizziness and fainting
- Tearing pain in the forehead
- Hair are dry at the ends but oily and greasy at roots
- Hair loss from the scalp as well as eyebrows or moustache
- Headache radiating from throat
- A sensation of pressure and acute pain in eyes as if the eyeballs were too large
- Heaviness in eyes, especially when moving them
- Partial blindness and swelling in eyes
- Tearing pain in ears accompanied by loss of hearing
- Buzzing sound in ears
- Irritability on hearing loud noises
- Cramps in the jaw
- Grinding of teeth
- Aversion to food
- Symptoms may get worse at night
- Headache gets better on pressing and rubbing the painful area
7. Sepia
Common name: Inky juice of cuttlefish
Symptoms: The following symptoms are usually noted in patients who respond well to sepia:
- Persistent sadness
- Vertigo accompanied by a sensation that something is rolling around in the head
- Stinging pain in the left side of forehead
- Nausea and vomiting in the morning before eating
- Headache that feels like terrible shocks
- Hair fall and sensitivity at the roots of hair
- Appearance of pimples and acne on forehead
- Black spots in the field of vision
- Herpes lesions behind ears and on the nape of the neck
- Flatulence
- Pain in the liver region that gets better on lying down on the right side
- Frequent constipation
- Fatiguing cough
- Violent palpitations accompanied by hot flushes
- Weakness and pain in the back
- Restlessness in limbs
- Symptoms get worse in the forenoon and evenings
- Symptoms get better by exercising, applying pressure or using hot applications
- Secretion of thick green discharge from nose
