BENGALURU: Thirty-five-year-old Gayathri was shocked to find that she had a brain tumour after she got an MRI scan done as per her neurosurgeon’s advice, and hers is not a one-off case.
Dr Avinash K.M., Consultant, Neurosurgery, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur, who operates on around six cases monthly, said that off late hospitals are seeing a spike in such cases. A lot of youngsters in the age bracket of 25-40 years are lining up at the hospital. “It is surprising but many youngsters are being diagnosed with brain tumours, of which many are high-grade tumours,” said Dr Avinash.
“Around 20-30 per cent of our neurosurgical practice consist of brain tumour cases and the trend is on the rise but we cannot pinpoint the exact reason as there are no studies and medical literature to indicate the cause,” says Dr Ravi Gopal Verma, Chief of Neurosciences and Lead Consultant, Neurosurgery, Aster CMI Hospital.
He added that of the total number of brain tumour cases, some 60 per cent are malignant. “There is no exact research or study to link brain tumours to anything, which is a problem as we need scientific data to pinpoint the cause,” he added.
Dr Shibu Vasudevan Pillai, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre, Narayana Health City attributes the increase to more awareness and better technology available.
Also the doctors at Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City, have treated a number of cases of brain tumours, and are especially concerned with ‘pediatric brain tumours’. Every month Dr Shibu operates on sixty patients, of which ten are children. “Children below one year are being diagnosed with brain tumours, so if parents observe any change in their kids’ walking pattern or vision they should not ignore it and should consult a neurosurgeon as often brain tumours in children often go misdiagnosed.”
Sita Bhateja Hospital too witnesses some 30-40 brain tumour cases in their OPD clinic. “Unfortunately for brain tumour, there is no clear link to genetics or environment, so identifying it early becomes a problem. The location of the tumour is important and the symptoms depend on the location of the tumour on the brain. has The symptoms are: seizures or fits, headaches or vomiting. A headache is often the first symptom. Most headaches are not due to brain tumours. Other symptoms include: Nausea and vomiting," said Dr Arvind Bhateja, Medical Director, Consultant Neurosurgeon and Spine Surgeon of Sita Bhateja Speciality hospital.
He said the classic triad of symptoms suggesting a brain tumour includes a headache, which is progressive week by week, blurred vision and nausea.
