Can my headaches mean I have a brain tumor?

The political and news worlds are abuzz with the news that Senator Edward Kennedy has a brain tumor, discovered after he experienced a seizure over the weekend.

I can’t claim to know if Senator Kennedy had any symptoms that might have tipped off doctors earlier, but it’s interesting to note that his first obvious symptom was a seizure.

Many people who experience bad headaches worry that they may be the sign of something worse than just a headache. They fear brain aneurysms or tumors. Sometimes they do, but most often they don’t.

First, there are two types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) and benign (not cancerous). Benign tumors can grow and cause pain, but they don’t cause cancer. Most people have have headaches don’t have any type of tumor – it’s just an unfortunate fact of life for them. However, if you have headaches regularly, there are a few things to be watchful for:

• Is the quality of the pain changing (from stabbing pain to achy pain, for example)
• Is the frequency changing
• Are you getting other symptoms along with the head pain
• Has the routine changed as to when they appear

If you have a substantial change in your headaches, it’s always worth it to get checked.

What are the symptoms of a brain tumor?

The symptoms of a brain tumor vary greatly depending on where in the brain the tumor is and what is being pressed on. Some tumors affect vision, others balance, and so on. Usually other illnesses are considered first.

According to MedlinePlus, the symptoms of brain tumors include:

• Headache — recent, persistent, and a new type for the person
• Vomiting — with or without nausea
• Personality changes
• Emotional instability, rapid emotional changes
• Memory loss, impaired judgment, calculating deficiencies
• Seizures — new for the person
• Vision changes — double vision, decreased vision
• Changes in sensation of a body area
• Weakness of a body area
• Speech difficulties
• Decreased coordination, clumsiness, falls
• Fever (sometimes)
• Lethargy
• General ill feeling
• Pupils of eyes are a different size

The good news is that according to the Medical College of Wisconsin, brain tumors only affect about 11,000 people per year in the United States. The bad news is, if the tumor is malignant and has spread, the survival rate is low.

To read more about Senator Kennedy’s situation, you can look at these news stories:

Senator Kennedy Has Malignant Brain Tumor

What Kennedy’s diagnosis could mean

More on Sen. Kennedy’s brain tumor

Images: Newscom

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