Medicine

A woman spoke about the first symptoms of brain cancer: she had a headache and tingling on the left side of her face

woman
Kimberley Bagley, 27, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK, said she had been having headaches for a week before she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour.

She said she felt tingling on the left side of her face and went to hospital. She was prescribed pain pills and sent on her way.

According to the Daily Mail, one day her husband came home from work and found Kimberly unconscious. A scan showed that she had an astrocytoma, an aggressive brain tumor.

Despite surgery and 33 courses of radiotherapy, the woman is still undergoing chemotherapy. She has stage three cancer.

— You live your life and don’t think that something like this could happen to you, but when it does, your whole world revolves around something you know nothing about, and it’s terrifying. Life stops when you’re diagnosed with a brain tumor, — Kimberly said.

Astrocytoma is one of the most common forms of brain tumors. These tumors grow from specialized cells called astrocytes. They protect nerves and are vital for processing information. It is the most common tumor among neuroectodermal tumors.

Experts still do not know what exactly causes the development of astocytoma, research is based on statistical data. In the vast majority of cases, it is not possible to find the cause. An exact cause-and-effect relationship is found in 5% of cases when close relatives have neurofibromatosis type 1 or 2 (a hereditary disease of the skin and nerve formations), as well as Bourneville disease or tuberous sclerosis.

In other cases, various factors are cited: exposure to chemicals, environmental issues, radiation, oncogenic viruses.

Common symptoms include headaches, speech difficulties, changes in vision (double or blurred vision), as well as seizures, confusion, and memory problems.

What is the difference between astrocytoma and glioblastoma?

The term astrocytoma includes several types of brain tumors, and glioblastoma is a malignant astrocytoma of grade IV malignancy.

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