A scream in the brain...Headaches Severe at Dawn, Risk of Brain Tumors
Feb 06, 2025
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According to health care big data, the number of brain tumor patients is steadily increasing every year. The number of patients with benign brain tumors increased from 47,675 in 2020 to 55,382 in 2022, and the number of patients with malignant brain tumors increased from 11,603 to 12,140 during the same period. Glioblastoma, one of the malignant brain tumors, is known to occur in about 1,000 people every year.
Brain tumors are largely divided into benign and malignant. Benign brain tumors mainly occur outside the brain and have a slow growth rate. Among them, meningiomas are the most common, and pituitary tumors or blue schwannomas are also common.
On the other hand, malignant brain tumors are often difficult to treat because they not only grow rapidly, but also penetrate surrounding tissues and destroy normal brain tissue. In particular, metastatic brain tumors are often caused by cancer of other organs spreading to the brain.
A typical symptom of a brain tumor is a headache. Unlike tension headaches, which stiffen the back neck in the afternoon, it is characterized by severe pain at dawn. If you lie down for a long time, your breathing volume decreases and blood is concentrated in the blood vessels of the brain, which increases the pressure of the tumor.
Professor Kim Sang-dae of neurosurgery at Korea University's Ansan Hospital Brain Tumor Center said, `If symptoms such as repeated headache, paralysis, vision loss, nausea, and vomiting are accompanied at dawn, you should suspect a brain tumor and seek immediate medical attention.'
Brain tumor treatment depends on the size, location, and symptoms of the tumor. Small benign tumors can be treated with radiation therapy, and large or malignant tumors require surgery. In the case of malignant tumors, in addition to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy can be combined. If there is a high risk of nerve damage during surgery, the patient is awakened to ensure that it does not affect the brain, and the surgery is also performed.
Recently, endoscopic surgery is mainly used to treat brain tumors. Instead of opening the traditional skull, the tumor is removed by inserting an endoscope through the nose and around the eyes. Patient satisfaction is high due to the rapid recovery with little scarring left. In particular, ophthalmic endoscopy can precisely remove brain tumors that have occurred around the eyes. Recovery after surgery is quick and helps improve the quality of life.
The biggest advantage of endoscopic surgery is that it can lower the risk of bleeding and complications while protecting nerves and blood vessels. In addition, the surgical process is simple and high in accuracy, so patients have less pain after surgery and recover quickly. It is also easy to return to daily life.
Professor Kim Myung-ji of the Brain Tumor Center at Korea University Ansan Hospital said "The latest radiation surgeries such as Gamma Knife, True Beam STx, and Cyber Knife are playing an important role in the treatment of brain tumors." The tumor is accurately targeted and treated with only high-precision radiation without incision, which minimizes the effect on healthy tissues around it, and recovers quickly. In particular, radiation surgery is performed in parallel to remove microscopic tumors that may remain in difficult cases or after surgery.
An important point in the treatment of brain tumors is customized treatment through multidisciplinary collaboration. Experts from various medical departments such as neurosurgery, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, and endocrinology work together to provide optimal treatments for patients. Through this, it comprehensively considers whether to operate, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, and precise treatment tailored to the patient's condition is achieved.
Professor Kim Sang-dae emphasized that the multidisciplinary cooperation system is very important because treatment depends on the location and size of the tumor and the patient's health condition.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
