Introduction :
Brain tumour is a group of concer cells in certain port of brain.It presents itself with headache, vomiting, blurred vision, weakness or paralyses of particular limb or convul sions. It depends on skill & knowledge of treating physician to illicit detlaiteed history from relatives, perform certain tests on pt & come to definite diagnosis. Then it can be treated by surgery, radiotherapy & drugs.
Causes :
Brain tumor can be primary or secondary. Primary brain tumor is the one which the origin of cancer cells is in brain only e-g (1) Glioma the tumour of tissue supporting neurons of brain. (2) Meningioma the tumour arising form meninges i .e. coverings protecting brain. (3) As to cyton the tumor of type of cells called Astrocyles. Secondary brain tumour is due to spread cancer cells from other parts of body e.g. stomach, lung etc.
Symptoms :
Disturbed Conscientiousness.This is in the form of disturbance in ability to attend & concentrate, faulty memory, impaired responsiveness & mental falling, intellectual disorganisatoin, defective judgement, in coherent speech. Emotional changes. The pt. shows emotional dullness, apalty & aspontaneity. Sometimes pt shows euphoria. Pt. may also show irritability & querulousness.
Hallucinations :
Hallucination as sensations without stimulns. e.g. a person hears some noise even in a silent room or sees something where nothing exists. Hallucinations could be simple vision, complex picture, nose taste, smell or touch.
Abnormal behavior : Pt. shows abnormal behavior in the form of unusail sadness or elation, false belief, disturbed functioning, irrelevant talk etc. Investigations.exam tumour is very difficult to diagnose just on neurological investigation. sBrain tumour is very difficult to diagnose just on neurological exam of pt. A detailed exami nation may lead to suspicion about presence of cerebral tumour. Various investigations required are as followed.
X-ray chest :
To rule out possibility of primary. Cancer in lunge
(Author is Consultant Psychiatrist at Raahat Hospital, Aurangabad.)