Symptoms of a Brain Stem Tumor

Brain stem tumors, sometimes called brain stem glioma, can be divided into two categories: benign and malignant. Benign tumors don't include cancerous cells, though they can still cause serious health problems and surgeries that are risky with complications more often than not. Malignant tumors are still much worse, as they are cancerous and grow quickly. There is also a high rate of recurrence even after chemotherapy and surgery.

What Causes Symptoms

• Brain stem tumors cause symptoms to appear for a few reasons. Simply taking up matter in the brain can cause electrical signals to get crossed, causing problems. These tumors are responsible for building up pressure in the skull cavity, which takes its toll on the entire brain, not just that section directly affected by the tumor. A slow-growing tumor is sometimes the most dangerous, as its symptoms come on so slowly that they may be disregarded until too much time has passed to treat effectively.

Headaches

• Without question, headaches are the most common symptom of a brain tumor, particularly those that are at their worst first thing in the morning and then taper off throughout the day. These headaches are usually impervious to over-the-counter pain medications and may begin to occur with frequency.

Seizures

• As a direct result of the fluid pressure that builds up in the brain, synapses can stop firing or be intercepted by the tumor. When this happens, seizures can occur. These seizures may be full-body grand mal seizures, or they may only be focal seizures, concentrated around the eyes, but without convulsion. These seizures are often followed by a day's worth of nausea and vomiting.

Nervous System

• Because the brain stem controls so much of the body's functions, a weakening of these functions could be a sign of a tumor. This could include numbing or weakness throughout the extremities or a sudden loss of coordination. Loss of motor control or impairment in walking are serious signs of a deeper problem and should always be checked out by a physician.

Other Symptoms

• Brain stem tumors are not likely to affect any two people in exactly the same way. The size, type and exact location of the tumor can have drastic effects on how the tumor manifests itself in the patient's life. Some of the other symptoms to be aware of are changes in the patient's speech, drowsiness, strange movements in the eye or sudden vision changes and personality shifts.