All About Brain Cancer

Each year cancer research programs continue to grow: funding increases, new technologies make year-old discoveries obsolete, and more doctors and scientists contribute their ideas and methods to understanding and eradicating cancer. As these strides are made, more treatment options become available and fewer people are forced to endure painful and invasive treatments.

Radiosurgery is a non-invasive, non-surgical treatment of brain cancer that allows doctors to direct beams of radiation to precise locations in order to focus it directly over a brain tumor. This method can help treat and remove intracranial tumors that would otherwise not be accessible for open surgery.

Choosing radiosurgery as an option over more invasive routines is the method of choice for some patients, but is more likely to be a necessity for patients with certain types of tumors that are not easily accessed through open surgery — such as skull base tumors.

Radiosurgery often uses the Leksell Gamma Knife which concentrates gamma radiation to the targeted portion of the patient’s brain. The radiation is so concentrated that, while some residual radiation exists, the vast majority of it is focused onto a much smaller area, thus degenerating the affected area and leaving the rest of the brain unaffected.

The Leksell Gamma Knife form of radiotherapy has been known to work with only one treatment.

What to Expect When Entering Radiation Therapy

Although there are many different types of radiation treatments, radiosurgery focusing specifically on the treatment of head, neck, and brain cancers, the side effects of general radiotherapy and radiosurgery will be very similar.

With radiosurgery, because the radiation is focused around the head and brain area, the patient can often expect to lose hair as a result of the treatment. Other side effects may include a reddening if the skin around the treated area where the radiation beams are passed through, physical fatigue (patients may feel tired more often than normal and sleep longer hours), nausea, and decreased immune response requiring that patients avoid being in public as much as possible to minimize the possibility of catching a virus or other sickness.

When used to treat cancer, radiation therapy is often administered in conjunction with surgery and chemotherapy. In operable cases, surgery may be conducted to remove as much of the cancer as possible, then treatment is followed up by radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells. The same is true of treatment in conjunction with chemotherapy.

In some cases, a combination of all three treatments will be used. In cases where the threat is not as immediate, radiation therapy alone may be the only treatment necessary.

Chemotherapy refers to the use of drugs to kill cancer cells in the brain. The drugs may be given orally or through injection. Chemotherapy is done at regular intervals, with adequate time spacing to allow the patient to recover.

Sometimes, during surgery, the surgeon implants medicated wafer after removing the tumor. This wafer will eventually melt and release the drug to the surrounding tissues.

The most common side effects include fever and chills, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, and weakness. Some side effects may be relieved with medicine.

In 2005, the results of a seven-year study by the European Ramazzini Foundation for cancer research in Italy demonstrated that the chemical sweetener, aspartame , “induces an increase in lymphomas and leukemias in female rats.” This study, involving 1800 rats, demonstrated that aspartame administered at varying levels in feed causes a statistically significant increase of lymphomas-leukemias and malignant tumors of the kidneys in female rats and malignant tumors of peripheral nerves in male rats.

However, a more recent study was done by the US’ National Cancer Institute in 2006 compared people who drank aspartame-containing beverages with those who did not. The study, involving about 500,000 people, showed that increasing levels of consumption were not associated with any risk of lymphomas, leukemias, or brain cancers in men or women.

So which is which? How do we determine who to believe?

(To be continued.)

The brain has three major regions: the brainstem, midbrain and forebrain.

The brainstem is composed of the medulla, the part that controls breathing, blood pressure, heart rate and digestion, and the cerebellum which coordinates speech and muscle movement. It is the most primitive part of the brain, as it controls the most basic and essential functions in the body.

The midbrain contains the links between the brainstem and thalamus to transmit information, and also the hypothalamus to regulate action. The amygdala is associated with aggressive behavior. The hippocampus is associated with long-term memory, and amnesia is a result of damage in this part of the brain.

The forebrain develops into the cerebral cortex, and is associated with mind function such as reasoning, sensation and motion.

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Stress is the silent cause of brain cancer. If we want to care for our brain, we must reduce the stress in our lives by having a positive mental attitude, controlling our hot-headed temper and seeking for activities that will make us calm and relaxed at all times. If we are not careful, we can actually kill our good cells by being stressed.

One kind of stress is called acute stress, which is normal and short-lived. It is the one that you experience when a car suddenly pulls out in front of you and you have to hit your brakes. The long-term stress in our day-to-day lives is the one that can actually damage the brain.

Researchers at the famed Oxford University have discovered and have visual proof of how breast cancer cells migrate to the brain and induces them to mutate, themselves turning into cancerous cells themselves. Metastasis has long been known but proof of such a cell mechanism, wherein the cells of a cancer cell breaks out of the original cell, infects other healthy cells then turning them into cancerous cells themselves. This mechanism is the main reason why cancer becomes fatal, able to spread from one organ with a unique set of cells to another, as if there was no difference to their structure. This is why stem cell research, the body’s primal super cell which has the ability to turn into all the different cells in the body is so great for the ability of cancer cells to migrate and adapt to infect the thousands or so types of cells, a seemingly similar mechanism.

Cancer researchers in Canada have identified the gene that is responsible for medulloblastoma which is considered to be the most common form of childhood brain cancer. They have successfully identified eight genes that have the ability to mutate bringing about brain cancer in younger people which can give them new avenues to pursue in childhood cancer treatment. The ability to properly target and prescribe the most effective treatment regimen is the aim and with these results, it has become more of a reality. The brains of children are still in the fast growing phase that if these genes mutated, would continue at an alarming rate that it turns into cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

Having a healthy brain is one way of preventing brain cancer. But how can we develop or maintain a healthy brain?
Exercising our body and being physically fit helps in developing brain function. Brain teasers, puzzles, riddles, trivia, games, and reading can stimulate our brain.
It is also important to interact with other people to keep our brains fit. Through communicating, our brains work by processing the information we share with other people.
Leading a healthy lifestyle by getting enough rest and sleep and maintaining a balanced diet is essential in keeping our brains healthy and working properly. Multivitamins and supplements also proves to be helpful in keeping a healthy brain and body. In contrast, smoking, drinking alcohol, and using drugs should be avoided.
Having a regular appointment with a doctor is equally important in order to keep track of our health.

This would surely get lawmakers on the uproar for scientific research has found that THC, or the active molecule of Cannabis Sativa (marijuana), the much debated drug to be effective at killing off brain tumor cancer cells. The study shows that in mice at least that have been infected with human brain cancer cells, the cells have been destroyed halting the progress of the disease. There have also been studies that the same component of marijuana has the ability to halt the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, preventing people form getting worse. Much is to be learned of such complex chemical chains that makes up THC for the banning of the plant and it’s seeds, classified as a dangerous drug makes this difficult.
There have been recent moves to legalize the drug as just another pill, but staunch opposition form traditional senators and congressmen see this as a threat to society. They are trying to follow the footsteps of some European countries that have actually legalized the selling and use of medical grade marijuana which is allowed for sufferers of chronic pain and terminal diseases.

画像提供：utmem.edu

脳腫瘍には様々なものが存在します。そのなかでも、聴神経腫と呼ばれる特定の種類の脳腫瘍は、バランスや聴覚をつかさどる聴覚神経の内側に発達する良性腫瘍で、前庭神経鞘腫や神経鞘腫とも呼ばれます。 聴神経腫は中年の成人に発生する傾向が高く、 理由は明らかではありませんが、男性よりも女性に現れることが一般的です。
脳腫瘍の一般的な兆候は頭痛や疲労、活力の欠乏がありますが、人格の変化は聴神経腫の患者にはほとんどみられません。 一般的な症状は、聴神経腫を患う耳の聴覚の喪失で、これには低音や高音の耳鳴りが伴います。 通常、この種類の脳腫瘍の患者は脳の両側に病状を持っています。