Watch these videos above to hear about Craig’s (left) and Judi’s (right) experiences after receiving their loved one’s diagnosis of a brain tumour.
Diagnosis
People react in a variety of ways when they, or a person they know, receives a diagnosis of a cancer. In general, a diagnosis of cancer can often result in feelings of anger, shock, fear, guilt, sadness, disbelief and anxiety. There are often new challenges for the person diagnosed with a malignant (cancerous) tumour and for the people in their lives. These challenges can be emotional, physical, practical and spiritual. Some people react with wanting to know everything about the diagnosis, and some want to know as little as possible.
A diagnosis of a brain tumour has added complications as the effects of a brain tumour varies depending upon:
- where in the brain the tumour is located;
- the size of the tumour and;
- the type of tumour.
Causes and risk factors
So far there are no known causes of glioma. Glioma has NOT been associated with smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, medications, or electromagnetic fields. Many people are concerned that cell (or mobile) phones might have the potential to cause certain types of cancer or other health problems. Different kinds of studies have been carried out to try to investigate this and the evidence to date suggests that cell phone use does not cause brain or other kinds of cancer in humans.
Gliomas occur sporadically. In other words, there seems to be no specific genetic predisposition. This means that if you or the person you are caring for has glioma and is otherwise well, there is no genetic reason to suggest that your children may get it. There is an increased risk of developing glioma in people who have the following rare genetic conditions: Neurofibromatosis, Li Fraumeni syndrome or Von Hippel- Lindau syndrome.