Doctor reveals two red flag symptoms that mean your headache could be sign of a brain tumour

Brain tumours are one of the major contributing factors in case of brain cancer worldwide. There are more than 120 types of brain tumours, and some can be cancerous or become cancerous. Although most brain tumours begin in the brain which are called primary brain tumours, some brain tumours can spread to other parts of the brain or the spine through the spinal fluid.

There are different types and stage of brain tumour. Grade 1 and 2 brain tumours are benign and grow slowly, while grade 3 and 4 brain tumours are malignant and grow more quickly. Symptoms of brain tumours mostly depend on their location, size, and how fast they're growing. Symptoms include headaches, mental changes, seizures, weakness or numbness, vision changes, difficulty speaking, and loss of balance. However, a simple headache is different than a headache triggered because of brain tumour.

Is your headache a sign of brain tumour?

A bad headache can be as painful as it is scary. A bad headache not only take a toll on your body and affect your daily activities, it’s hard not to think the worst if you’re unlucky enough to suffer with severe headaches often. If you are someone who crosses paths with headache one in a while, it is important for you to be able to understand the reason behind the frequent headaches. But how to differentiate between a normal headache and a one that’s caused by brain tumour?

Sometimes, the answer is simple – if the pain lasts longer or recurs more than often, that might be sign for you to get checked by a healthcare professional.

Dr Baibing Chen, a medical professional offered an insight on 'Surrey Live' on how to distinguish between a harmless headache and one that could be a sign of something more serious. He highlighted two specific symptoms as potential red flags.

Dr Chen explained that is a headache suddenly feels different, like a thunderclap headache, or if the headache is lasting longer than usual, it could be of something serious like a bleed or tumour or aneurysm.

While normal headaches are quite common and there is typically nothing to worry about, the 'thunderclap headache' (named after the weather phenomenon) is characterised by excruciating pain akin to being struck in the head, which might feel like some ‘blinding pain’ unlike anything experienced before.

According to Dr Chen, sudden thunderclap headaches could indicate a burst blood vessel in the brain, potentially leading to lifelong disability, coma, or even death.

Dr Chen also warned against the neck manipulation technique used by some chiropractors, which could increase the risk of developing serious conditions. He cautioned stating that forceful neck adjustments could carry a rare but serious risk, and that is vertebral artery dissection.

What is brain tumour?

A brain tumour is an abnormal growth of cells in the brain or skull. Brain tumours can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). They can develop in many parts of the brain, including the brainstem, sinuses, nasal cavity, and skull base. Brain tumours can develop in many parts of the brain, including the protective lining, the underside of the brain, the brainstem, the sinuses, and the nasal cavity.

About one-third of brain tumours are cancerous. But whether they’re cancerous or not, brain tumours can impact brain function and your health if they grow large enough to press on surrounding nerves, blood vessels and tissue.

Effects of brain tumour:

Brain tumours, whether cancerous or not, can cause serious problems and jeopardise your overall health system. This is because your skull is rigid and doesn’t provide room for the tumour to expand. Also, if a tumour develops near parts of your brain that control vital functions, it may cause symptoms, such as, acute weakness, difficulty in walking, problems with balance, partial or complete loss of vision, difficulty understanding or using language, and loss of memory. Brain tumours can cause problems by directly invading and destroying healthy brain tissue, putting pressure on nearby tissue, increasing pressure within your skull (intracranial pressure), causing fluid to build up in your brain, blocking the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through the spaces within your brain, causing those spaces to enlarge and bleeding in your brain.

Symptoms of brain tumour: Brain tumours don't always cause symptoms, and the most common brain tumour in adults, meningioma, often grows so slowly that it goes unnoticed. Symptoms of a brain tumour vary depending on the part of the brain affected, the tumour's size, and how fast it's growing:

Headaches: Headaches that are worse in the morning, when coughing, or when straining. They may also be more frequent or severe than headaches you've had before.

Vision problems: Blurred or double vision, loss of sight in the sides of your vision, or difficulty identifying objects.

Balance problems: Loss of balance, dizziness, or unsteadiness.

Speech problems: Difficulty speaking or finding words.

Memory problems: Memory loss or confusion.

Seizures: Seizures or convulsions, especially if there is no history of seizures.

Personality or behaviour changes: Mental or behavioural changes, such as changes in personality.

Weakness: Progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body.

Hearing problems: Loss of hearing.

Persistent feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting) and drowsiness are also indicative of brain tumour.

Treatment for brain tumour: Brain tumour treatment depends on the type of tumour and can include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other treatments:

Surgery: The most common treatment for brain tumours. During surgery, a small section of the skull is removed to cut out the tumour. The goal is to remove as much abnormal tissue as safely as possible.

Radiation therapy: Uses radiation to kill cancer cells after surgery or to treat tumours that can't be surgically removed. Some types of radiation therapy include external beam radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and proton therapy.

Chemotherapy: Uses medicine to kill cancer cells after surgery or to relieve symptoms if the tumour can't be removed. Common side effects include feeling sick and a drop in white blood cell levels.

Other treatments: Steroids can be prescribed to reduce swelling around the tumour. Other medicines can help with symptoms like seizures and headaches.

Supportive care:

Can help lessen problems caused by the disease or its treatment.

Treatment for non-cancerous tumours is often successful and a full recovery is possible. However, there's sometimes a small chance the tumour could return, so regular follow-up appointments may be needed.
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