• Question: How do you know if you have a brain tumor?! :) ;)

    Asked by Jaz to Frank, Ian, Isabel, Jared, Zena on 11 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Isabel Pires

      Isabel Pires answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Because the brain is such an essential organ, if there is something wrong with it a person would start having signs of the problem relatively quickly. In the case of a tumour, as it grows it would start pressing into the brain and causing damage.

      These signs could be things like loosing balance, problems with eye sight, speech, memory, unusual headaches, etc. If a person would have any of these signs (or symptoms) or are not feeling well, they should go to their GP straight away who would get them to do tests and recommend them to go to a specialist (a neurologist) if needed. The neurologist would then do more specialised studies, including taking very detailed images of the brain to see if there was any tumour present.

      Many of these symptoms could be due to something else, not necessarily a tumour, so other causes would be ruled out by tests. But a person should always go to their GP if they are not feeling well or if something is not working as normal.

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