Every day, across America, people are talking about the progress being made in medical research, or the support provided to patients and families affected by a devastating disease or illness. One thing that often gets lost in these conversations is the issue of money. Research can only move forward if there’s funding to support it. Nonprofit organizations and other support groups operate primarily from donations; and even fundraising activities require a budget of some sort. None of these can happen without money.

And, somewhere out there, right now, a group of parents is having that very conversation about the deadliest of all childhood cancers-pediatric brain tumors and brain cancer. What’s the latest in research? What kind of support is out there for the kids and families? Why isn’t more being done, and faster? It is the mission of the nonprofit organizations that support this worthwhile cause to provide answers to these questions, and they understand that the answers come through proper funding.

Research

Research on the causes and cures of pediatric brain tumors and brain cancer is ongoing, but often progresses at a slower rate than desired. There have, however, been some recent successes in this area of research, including the creation of a tissue consortium, and the publishing of a major study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children. (”The Genetic Landscape of the Childhood Cancer Medulloblastoma”; Science, published online Dec. 16, 2010.)

Support

Through a variety of programs and services, most nonprofit organizations work to meet the needs of these young patients and their families. Services such as support groups and various family events, as well as assistance with a variety of issues relating to care, treatment, and financial aid give these families the sense that they are not alone on this difficult journey.

Awareness and Education

Anyone who owns or operates a business understands the necessity of marketing. Awareness of the product or services offered is critical to the success of that business. Of course, successful marketing requires a sufficient source of funds to “get the word out.”

In that sense, nonprofit organizations are no different than any other business. In order to promote awareness of pediatric brain tumors and brain cancer, there must be a solid marketing plan in place. How else will the average person learn that every day, across this country…

• Nine families will learn their child has a brain or spinal cord tumor;
• Three families will mourn the loss of their child to a brain or spinal cord tumor; and
• Six families will transition to survivorship.

Funding for the ongoing research and essential services provided by the nonprofit groups comes primarily from a mix of events, direct response, online fundraising, and major and planned gift solicitation. For the most part, events constitute the predominant source of funds to back these activities.

With adequate funding, progress can continue that will improve the treatment, quality of life and long-term outcomes for children with brain and spinal cord tumors.

How does the old saying go? “No gift is too small; no kind gesture goes unnoticed.” Contact a nonprofit organization today to find out how you can help in the fight against pediatric brain tumors and brain cancers.

Medical doctors have established the fact that brain cancer nutrition therapy is beneficial for those that suffer from mild to severe cases of brain cancer. Cancer is an illness that has the capability of depleting the body of essential vitamin, minerals, and other types of nutrients. When an individual undergoes brain cancer treatment, even more of those important nutrients are wiped out in the body.

Not only this, but the cancer patient often experiences issues when it comes to having an appetite. Individuals that have brain cancer are already quite vulnerable, but when poor nutrition is added to the mix, it could wreck devastation upon the health of the patient. In this guide, you will discover a new form of brain cancer therapy that focuses on nutrition.

Assessing Nutritional Needs

If you want to engage in a brain cancer nutrition therapy treatment plan, it is important to have your nutritional needs evaluated by a medical professional. There are many tests that may be performed so that the medical doctor may get a good snapshot of what nutritional needs you require.

One of the most common is the test that evaluates your blood. This test will validate whether or not your base figures are either low or high when it comes to protein and other nutrients in the blood. In addition to this, the medical professional will likely inquire about the health history that you have had. It is also common for them to ask questions about the way that you eat, immediately followed by an examination pertaining to your body mass index.

The Nutrition Therapy Plan

Once your doctor establishes your nutritional needs, they will determine which type of diet will work best for you. You will be encouraged to consume only those foods with provide you with the optimal health benefits. If you have brain cancer, this is typically always individualized for you.

In addition to encouraging you to consume only those foods that are positive to your overall health, the nutrition therapy plan will also include exercises that you will be safe performing during the course of your disease and the treatment of your disease. You may also be encouraged to take nutritional supplements. There are many supplements that have been found to benefit brain cancer patients in one way or another. These include Selenium, Vitamin E, and Beta Carotene.

Support

If you are going to indulge in brain cancer nutrition therapy, it is important to know and understand that this is not just about changing your lifestyle; it is about modifying your behavior so that you may optimize your health. It is important to have a good support system in place.

This could be relatives, friends, neighbors, a community support group, clergy members, and even medical doctors. If you have a good support team in place, succeeding in brain cancer nutrition therapy will likely be both positive and productive for your health – both inside and outside.

It started when my brother-in-law, who is kind of fond of the drink, fell down heavily at home one day when a stroke hit him. It was a minor stroke that he recovered from with a week in hospital; but to be on the safe side, the doctors recommended a kind of radiation test that they said would help them identify the exact spot the blockage existed in that had caused the blood flow problem in his brain. The radiation test was to be a procedure called the CT brain perfusion scan; it was kind of scary to hear about – it was to beam the equivalent of hundreds of x-rays worth of radiation into his brain. We might have suspected that this would cause problems later on, but all the high-tech wizardry we were surrounded by kind of helped calm our fears. And then it started – there was the perfect circle of hair that just dropped out of his head one day soon.

When we brought it up with the doctor, he didn’t say that he believed that there was something wrong with the procedure; he wondered if my brother-in-law had started combing his hair in the wrong direction. This was kind of like the way Toyota likes to blame the out-of-control acceleration in their cars on drivers getting their pedals mixed up. We began to read up, and then came this breaking story in the New York Times that really was a wake-up call. That CT brain scan was what was behind it all the time. Those machines (made by GE, Toshiba and others) didn’t have the software set up so that they would be easy for the technicians to use; the companies didn’t train the lab technicians properly, and my brother-in-law had ended up getting 10 times the radiation he should have. And there are so many people this is happening to that there’s actually a class action lawsuit being planned.

What exactly happens then when this machine zaps your brain? The most visible thing that happens right away is that you lose your hair for a few weeks. But there are more serious things that go on within. Brain cancer and memory loss happen to be real possibilities. The problem here is that there is so much going on on the cutting-edge science of radiation therapy that there has been not enough time to discover everything that can go wrong, and to establish training procedures that will help lab technicians learn their skills properly before they zap anyone into orbit. There actually is no legal limit to how much radiation they can give you either.

While they suspect that brain cancer could be a strong possibility, there hasn’t been enough time that has elapsed that they could actually find out how serious things can be. Perhaps the problem is that we’ve come to depend on safety features built into everything we use. If you don’t close the door of your microwave properly, it’s not going to work; if you don’t close the door of your car properly, it’s going to warn you repeatedly. Technicians who work these machines easily use the automated features provided, assuming that they’ve been designed to be idiot proof – to warn them when they are about to zap someone into getting brain cancer. They forget that idiot-proofing is just a consumer innovation. Professional equipment doesn’t come with these features, because they assume that technicians know what they are doing. If it’s at all comforting to hear this, a few high-ranking hospital staff at hospitals around the country have suffered the same effects. It just goes to show how light the veneer of the safety is that we take for granted.

The oligodendroglioma is a rare tumor that develops in the brain. It is created by the cells that are located in the connective tissue that surround the nerve cells of the brain. The symptoms that the patient experiences are heavily dependent upon the location of the tumor itself.

While more common among the adult population, these cells have been found in children as well. The oligodendroglioma tumor is considered to be one that grows at an extremely slow rate. In the United States population, this type of tumor accounts for approximately 3% of all tumor diagnoses. It has been established that males are more prone to this type of condition than females.

Symptoms of the Oligodendroglioma Tumor

Individuals that experience the oligodendroglioma tumor may endure a multitude of symptoms. The symptoms that are experienced are heavily dependent upon the exact location and general size of the tumor. In most instances, the following symptoms are identified in patients suffering from this condition:

• Many individuals will start to experience headaches. In most cases, as the tumor progresses in size, the headaches will progress in severity.
• Many individuals may experience behavioral based changes. These changes may include a marked personality change, high levels of irritability, depression, and even aggression.
• In some cases where an oligodendroglioma tumor is present, cognitive challenges occur. These challenges may include problems with concentration, complications with memory, and similar issues.
• There are many cases where sufferers of this type of brain tumor will experience motor function complications. Examples include experiencing weakness and paralysis in the body, challenges with walking, issues with speaking, and similar types of issues.
• Many may start to have mild to severe seizures that come as a direct result of the tumor that is growing in, on, or around the brain.
• Problems with the bowels and even the bladder may be experienced when an individual suffers from this type of tumor.

Treatments

There are many treatments that may be necessary to relieve an individual of the symptoms that they experience with this tumor type. Medical professionals typically determine the course of treatment by the grade that is associated with the tumor itself. For those with only a mild tumor with minimal symptoms, a surgery may be considered.

Typically, the individual will be monitored after the surgery to determine if the tumor returns or makes an attempt to return and spread. For those that suffer from more serious complications as a result of their tumor, radiation may be required in order to ensure that the tumor does not return. Many individuals may also have to undergo chemotherapy sessions as a course of treatment after having a surgery for this type of tumor.

Brain cancer is usually caused by growth of cancer cells in the brain itself or the spread of cancer cells to the brain from other parts of the body. In the former case it is categorized as primary and in the latter as secondary. The tumor may be benign or malignant. If benign, it may not be life threatening. The malignant one is cancerous and is the leading killer among all types of cancer.

Most of the initial symptoms of Brain Cancer are usually passed off as routine medical problems and get associated with common ailments. However, they do show some indications which can serve as a warning.

Commonly Associated Symptoms

* A gradual feeling of lethargy with every passing day.
* Signs of general weakness.
* Vomiting.
* Dizziness or maybe a short blackout spell.
* Fever coupled with hallucinations.
* Persistent migraine or full blown headache.
* Decline in vision or hearing.
* Lack of coordination while performing routine tasks like eating or walking etc.
* Stumbling due to unexplained reasons.

Additional Symptoms

* Feeling of numbness in both arms and legs or either arm(s) or leg(s).
* Experiencing weakness on only one side of the body.
* Both or either arm(s) or leg(s) getting numb for a period of time.
* Swelling in the brain detected during a scan.
* Hydrocephalus.

Brain Cancer affects that organ of the body which controls all other body functions. As a result, as this cancer progresses, newer and newer symptoms will keep emerging in the patient which will restrict his functioning if remedial action is not taken to control the growth. Since cancer cells will start dominating the brain cells, a direct impact will be in the form of:

* Loss of memory – initially small spells but will gradually increase.
* Failing of motor organs.
* Loss of balance and equilibrium.
* Slurring of speech.
* The patient’s gait changes distinctly.
* Visible changes in personality, lack of focus and attention.

Brain Cancer is a killer. However, with more and more research being conducted to stem its spread and increase chances of a patient surviving, doctors have combined doses of radiation and chemo therapy. Where possible, surgery is being resorted to remove the tumor followed by radiation to make the patient cancer free.

Description

Brain cancer is a tumor or tumors that form on the brain itself. Most brain tumors have spread to the brain from other affected parts of the body (such as the breast or the lung) via the blood-stream. Only a small percentage of brain cancer cases originate in the brain.

In its early stages, brain cancer often produces no symptoms, or it displays symptoms that are mistaken for everyday headaches. As a result, the condition is often quite advanced before it is detected. Brain cancer is a very serious condition that can cause extensive neurological damage or death.

The exact cause of brain cancer is unknown, but heredity is suspected to play a role in its development.

Signs and Symptoms

Brain cancer is usually asymptomatic until the tumor reaches a certain size. At that point, symptoms include:

Persistent headaches

Vomiting

General weakness, or localized weakness in the arms or legs

Loss of coordination

Dizziness

Change in personality

Loss of mental abilities, including memory

Double vision, or loss of vision

Seizures

Conventional Medical Treatment

If you suspect you have a brain tumor, see a physician immediately. A CAT scan or MRI of the head can usually confirm the presence of a tumor and pinpoint its location. If a tumor is found, the physician may take a CAT scan of the chest and abdomen to make sure the cancer has not affected other areas of the body. If the tumor is localized and is situated in an area where removal is possible (on the outer surface of the brain, for example), surgery may be performed. However, some tumors-particularly those located deep within the brain tissue-cannot be operated on. In these cases, radiation and chemotherapy will be used to destroy cancerous cells. (See “Conventional Medical Treatment” in the “Bladder Cancer” entry for more information on radiation and chemotherapy.)

Complementary and Alternative Treatments

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Acupressure By pressing on certain acupressure points along the body’s meridians, a practitioner may be able to reduce cancer-related pain and headaches.

Chinese Herbal Therapy Traditional Chinese Medicine considers any type of tumor formation the result of stagnant blood, so a practitioner may recommend formulas that energize blood flow and strengthen the immune system, such as Ginseng and Astragals Formula. In cases of brain cancer, an herbalist may prescribe the Chinese formula called Three Yellows.

Can your brain cancer prognosis be improved? Oncologists consider brain cancer to be one of the deadliest cancers, but Karon Beattie, a cancer survivor, has compiled a reference book containing in excess of 350 alternative cancer treatments that thousands of cancer patients have used to overcome their condition, including brain cancer.

Beattie gives accounts of people surviving brain cancer by natural treatments. She states that these treatments are not within the FDA’s jurisdiction, resulting in low awareness among doctors.

In one example, Beattie reports that some physicians have used a nutritional supplement to achieve complete remission of aggressive, stage IV cancers that had metastasized.

Specifically in regard to brain cancer, her book, “Natural Cancer Treatments That Work”, describes how a British doctor successfully treated a Grade 4 brain tumor with a herbal mixture. The patient is alive two years later, long after oncologists had predicted.

Beattie also details a patient whose brain tumor vanished completely after taking a combination of nutritional supplements known to stop the spread of cancer cells, preventing metastasis. This seems an astonishing outcome for a cancer given a poor prognosis by oncologists.

Further, Beattie gives 131 first-hand accounts of people who beat brain and spinal cord cancers using alternative and natural treatments. If stories like these are factual, why are the treatments not used more widely for brain and other cancers?

According to Beattie, even though the creators of the treatments listed in her book are respected health scientists, few of the treatments have been formally assessed in human clinical trials. Why? There is little financial incentive for drug companies in natural treatments that they cannot patent, yet thousands have successfully used the treatments. Beattie also suggests that many doctors may not know of these treatments because they are only familiar with treatments regulated by the FDA. Many of the alternative treatments she lists involve herbs and vitamins that are beyond the FDA’s jurisdiction.

These intriguing accounts will be hard to ignore for cancer sufferers and their loved ones in their efforts to survive cancer and retake their lives.

Brain cancer accounts for about 1.4% of all cancer cases and about 2.4% of all cancer deaths. This may not seems like a lot but don’t let the numbers fool you on the severity of brain cancer. Once the cancer turns malignant, the tumors grow aggressively and overpower the healthy cells taking up their space, blood and nutrients. This is an area of grave concern because the brain is the most important part of your body and controls everything. Whenever there is something wrong with your brain, it affects the entire body. Knowing what the brain cancer symptoms are and able to recognize these symptoms is incredibly important for our prognosis and survival from this deadly disease.

The biggest problem with brain cancer and brain tumors is that their symptoms are often nonspecific making it is very difficult to know if you have it or not, unless you are seriously looking for it. The most common symptoms of brain cancer are headaches, general weaknesses, difficulty in walking, clumsiness and seizures. Other more serious symptoms include difficulty with speech, abnormal vision, nausea, vomiting, quick emotional changes, and an altered mental state. An altered mental state can include changes in concentration, memory, intellectual capacity, attention and alertness.

Several different factors can cause these symptoms. Some of these symptoms are caused by the tumor pressing on different parts of the brain and impairing them from functioning properly. The symptoms can also be caused by the swelling of the brain, the tumor or the area around the tumor. Unfortunately, these brain cancer symptoms usually develop very slowly and gradually over time and this makes it really difficult for anyone to confirm the existence of this deadly disease. For instance, people often think that a headache is just a headache or that the dizziness felt is due to any other reasons except cancer. If these symptoms occur frequently and very rapidly, you should definitely visit your doctor to see what the problem is.

The doctors will often make you take a CT scan if they feel you have brain cancer. A CT scan is like an x-ray except in shows the brain in three-dimensions. A harmless dye is usually injected into your bloodstream to make abnormalities more visible in the CT scan. Other tests include blood tests, liver tests, urine tests and blood coagulation profiles. MRI scans are sometimes used instead of CT scans. The reason for this is because MRI has a better ability to assess the changes in a tumor.

Brain cancer is an incredibly serious form of cancer and it is important for us to know what these brain cancer symptoms are so that we can take necessary action to arrest the situation early. If you suspect you are suffering or are suffering from these symptoms, please consult your doctor early to ascertain your actual medical condition. If brain cancer is confirmed, discuss with your doctor for an appropriate course of treatment best suited for you. An early intervention increases your chances for an early recovery and a prolonged survival.

Brain cancer is a disease of the brain where cancer cells (malignant) grow in the brain tissue. Cancer cells grow to form a mass of cancer tissue (tumor) that interferes with brain tissue functions such as muscle control, sensation, memory, and other normal body functions. Tumors composed of cancer cells are called malignant tumors, and those composed of noncancerous cells are called benign tumors. Cancer cells that develop from brain tissue are called primary brain tumors. Statistics suggest that brain cancer is not rare and is likely to develop in about 20,000 people per year.

There are two main types of brain cancer. Primary brain cancer starts in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer starts somewhere else in the body and moves to the brain. Brain tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells, or malignant, with cancer cells that grow quickly.

Primary brain cancer rarely spreads beyond the central nervous system, and death results from uncontrolled tumor growth within the limited space of the skull. Metastatic brain cancer indicates advanced disease and has a poor prognosis.

Metastatic brain tumors are made of cancerous cells from a tumor elsewhere in the body. The cells spread to the brain from another tumor in a process called metastasis. About 25% of tumors elsewhere in the body metastasize to the brain.

Symptoms of Brain Cancer

Brain tumors can damage vital neurological pathways and invade and compress brain tissue. Symptoms usually develop over time and their characteristics depend on the location and size of the tumor.

Cancers are typically painless at first. As they grow, the first symptom is often a mild discomfort, which may steadily worsen into increasingly severe pain as the cancer enlarges. The pain may result from the cancer compressing or eroding into nerves or other structures.

The symptoms are caused by the tumor pressing on or encroaching on other parts of your brain and keeping them from functioning normally.

A sign is also an indication that something is not right in the body. But signs are defined as things that can be seen by a doctor, nurse, or other health care professional. Fever, rapid breathing rate, and abnormal breathing sounds heard through a stethoscope may be signs of pneumonia.

As the skull is made of bone, there is a fixed amount of space for the brain to take up. The growing tumor increases the pressure inside this fixed space. This is called ‘raised intracranial pressure’.

Motion sickness is a very common disturbance of the inner ear that is caused by repeated motion such as from the swell of the sea, the movement of a car, the motion of a plane in turbulent air, etc. In the inner ear (which is also called the labyrinth), motion sickness affects the sense of balance and equilibrium and, hence, the sense of spatial orientation.

Brain tumors can often present different symptoms depending on the location of the tumor. There are general brain tumor symptoms that need to be checked out by a doctor if they are experienced.

Fits are one of the commonest symptoms of brain tumors. About 1 in 4 people with a brain tumor first go to their doctor because they have had a fit. A fit can just be jerking or twitching of a hand, arm or leg.

At the late stages of the disorder, dramatic changes in blood pressure may occur. Seizures are a common symptom of benign brain tumors and slow-growing cancers. Tumors can cause a part of the body to weaken or feel paralyzed. Hearing, sight and the sense of smell can be affected.

The words brain cancer seem to tend to bring with them terror over and above that of other forms of cancer, however, as terrible as this form of cancer is, and I don’t mean to minimize it, brain cancer does not necessarily mean death. Sometimes cancerous tumors of the brain will not spread out to other areas of the body but will simply stay in the cranial cavity itself. It will however, often attack other tissues in that area and result in serious problems and challenges.

Sometimes the tumor will grow and push parts of the brain causing various reactions such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, comas, times when the victim will seem to be out of touch and unresponsive to people and things around him. Also, there will often be a dialation of the eye on the side where the tumor is located. Eye doctors will often notice differences in the eye and the eye responses during an eye examination. In very young children, this pushing can result in an increase of the size of the skull itself.

It may also result in certain neurological symptoms, cognitive impairment of various kinds, changes in behavior, personality, emotional responses or initiations,

It may also result in physical challenges, such as the loss of the sense of smell, loss or partial loss of sight, loss or partial loss of hearing, problems with swallowing, paralysis on one side of the body, stroke, traumatic brain injury, seizures and other problems, depending on what part of the brain the tumor is pressing against.

It is also to be noted that in some cases there will be no noticeable symptoms or that the symptoms will be so seemingly minor that the person’s life will go on as usual with no or with very minor, hardly noticeable changes.

A person’s health is important. If it is not taken care of properly, things like brain cancer may take over and change things and there will be no changing back. It is important to follow one’s doctor’s advice. Go for periodic checkups. If you find that something doesn’t seem quite right, don’t wait, make an appointment and go to the doctor. Your doctor has the equipment to look into things and find out. If he/she finds nothing wrong, celebrate, don’t gripe about wasted money. If he/she does find something wrong, be glad you went and got help immediately, it can make all the difference; the difference between being a victim of brain cancer or a victor over brain cancer.