6 things you need to know about brain tumors

ruby orimba

July 30, 2017 1:27 PM

They are quite rare but deadly when they occur.

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Kenyans are mourning the loss of a great entertainment guru, friend, and mentor, Big Kev after he lost his battle against brain tumor yesternight at the Nairobi Hospital.

It's high time we talk about it.

Brain tumors are a collection, or mass, of abnormal cells in your brain who's growth pose a danger to health by over filling the skull. There are two types, cancerous (malignant) and noncancerous (benign) and if they grow, they can cause the pressure inside your skull to increase leading to life threatening brain damage.

Here are six more facts you need to know:

1. Primary brain cancer is rare.

Brain cancer can also be defined as primary or secondary. Primary brain tumors start growing in the brain and are quite rare. Secondary brain cancer is cancer that spreads to the brain from another part of the body and is the most common.

ALSO READ:Big Kev is dead

2. No known causes

There are no identified causes of brain cancer. Most people diagnosed with it show no risk factors. Still, some have been linked to increases a persons chance of developing one. These include age, exposure to ionizing radiation found in atomic bombs and rare genetic disorders.

3. They don't have any obvious symptoms

Symptoms like persisting headaches, eye weakness, nausea, and vomiting could be indicating to so many other illnesses other than brain tumors. However, difficulty in speaking or comprehending, short term memory loss or personality changes are high markers that you may be having a brain tumor or developing one. Consult right away.

ALSO READ: Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenyans' message to Big Kev's family

4. It's not prone to a particular age

While the average age of diagnosis is 59 years, brain tumors are also very common in children.

5. Your cell phone will not give you cancer

You've probably heard the caution, your phone could give you cancer. Well, research has been done for years and still. there is no exclusive proof that shows cell phones increase the risk of cancer. Still, better safe than sorry, use a speaker or a hand's free device instead.

6. Different brain tumor, different survival rate

Survival rates of brain tumor patients vary from with the different types of cancer. Cancer such as meningioma, anaplastic ependymoma, and oligodendroglioma, are highly treatable, while others are less responsive to treatment.

ruby orimba