Brain Tumors: Who's Had Them, What The Symptoms Are, And What The X-Rays Look Like (VIDEO)

Amid reports that Senator Ted Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor (specifically called "malignant glioma"), here are the answers to some questions you might be asking.

What's malignant glioma?

According to the Mayo Clinic:

Gliomas (primary brain tumors) start in the brain or spinal cord tissue. They can spread within the nervous system but do not spread outside the nervous system. Gliomas can be either benign (slow growing) or malignant (fast growing). Annually, about 17,000 Americans are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor.

Wikipedia says symptoms of a malignant glioma are headaches, nausea and vomiting, seizures, and cranial nerve disorders as a result of increased intracranial pressure.

What's the difference between malignant and benign again?

Malignant is cancerous while benign in non-cancerous.

How common are brain tumors?

According to the National Cancer Institute, there will be an estimated 21,810 new cases and deaths from brain and other nervous system tumors and 13,070 deaths in the United States in 2008.

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Who has had a brain tumor?

Those who have survived their brain tumors include Mark Ruffalo, Ralph Lauren, Elizabeth Taylor, Senator Arlen Specter and Diane von Furstenberg.

Those who have died from complications with their brain tumors include Bob Marley, Gene Siskel, George Harrison, Francois Truffaut, Robert Moog, Lee Atwater, Ethel Merman, George Gershwin, Bobby Van, Johnnie Cochran and Raymond Carver.

What does a brain tumor look like?

From 3d-doctor.com

From wikipedia.org

From mayoclinic.com

What does it feel like to have a brain tumor?

What are the symptoms of a brain tumor?

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include:

The signs and symptoms of a brain tumor vary greatly and depend on the brain tumor's size, location and rate of growth.

General signs and symptoms caused by brain tumors may include:

* New onset or change in pattern of headaches

* Headaches that gradually become more frequent and more severe

* Unexplained nausea or vomiting

* Vision problems, such as blurred vision, double vision or loss of peripheral vision

* Gradual loss of sensation or movement in an arm or a leg

* Difficulty with balance

* Speech difficulties

* Confusion in everyday matters

* Personality or behavior changes

* Seizures, especially in someone who doesn't have a history of seizures

* Hearing problems

* Hormonal (endocrine) disorders

Who's at risk of developing a brain tumor?

*Being male--In general, brain tumors are more common in males than females. However, meningiomas are more common in females.

*Race--Brain tumors occur more often among white people than among people of other races.

*Age--Most brain tumors are detected in people who are 70 years old or older. However, brain tumors are the second most common cancer in children. (Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer.) Brain tumors are more common in children younger than 8 years old than in older children.

*Family history--People with family members who have gliomas may be more likely to develop this disease.

*Being exposed to radiation or certain chemicals at work:

Radiation--Workers in the nuclear industry have an increased risk of developing a brain tumor.

Formaldehyde--Pathologists and embalmers who work with formaldehyde have an increased risk of developing brain cancer. Scientists have not found an increased risk of brain cancer among other types of workers exposed to formaldehyde.

Vinyl chloride--Workers who make plastics may be exposed to vinyl chloride. This chemical may increase the risk of brain tumors.

Acrylonitrile--People who make textiles and plastics may be exposed to acrylonitrile. This exposure may increase the risk of brain cancer.

Lastly, is it true that cell phones give you brain cancer?

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) found that people who used cellular phones did not have an increased risk of brain tumors compared to non-users.

Comments

[avicenna]

I can't imagine having to deal with this under the glare of media scrutiny. Perhaps it is just me, but I needed a lot of space and had a deep desire to be left alone as I put things into perspective when my mother became ill with an equally frightening illness. I just hope that there will be some respect forthat space by everyone - as well meaning as they may be - to curb both curiosity and the desire to "report" health updates and prognosis.

This is a good opportunity to share new developments at the University of Alberta for the treatment of malignant tumors that subvert the regular aerobic cycle for energy (most tumors come to use anaerobic energy eventually). A non-patentable molecule called DCA (dichloroacetic acid) may be the cure for malignant growths for virtually all types of cancer; it specifically targets and shrink tumor cells by shutting down their ability to use lactic acid as an energy source to grow (http://www.depmed.ualberta.ca/dca/). They have been enrolling people with untreatable brain tumors since this molecule can pass through the blood-brain barrier and shows great potential for the treatment of such growths. Another Canadain clinic has been accepting patients who can't get into the program at the U of Alberta (it's hugely in demand) for DCA therapy: http://www.medicorcancer.com/DCAtherapy.html.

[arthur1]

These are not X-ray images! They are MRI images. There is a big difference. MRI machines do not use X-rays.

[AnitaWagner]

I can't say how sorry I am to hear this, especially since my mother developed three stage 4 primary brain tumors (glioblastoma multiforme, a/k/a GBM) at age 75 and died from them in less than a year in September 2006. I learned more about brain tumors than anyone should ever have to know about them. They are viscious monsters. Not only do they cause great pain that must be managed with heavy doses of narcotics, as her disease progressed I watched her lose her ability to walk, feed herself, roll over in bed, speak, drink and eat. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. (OK, maybe Bin Laden, but I won't get into that.)

I am also troubled by one piece of info in this article. It says that "People with family members who have gliomas may be more likely to develop this disease." In all the research I did when Mom was sick, everything I read said there was no genetic link to brain tumors. I have to wonder where HuffPo got their info. Very troubling for me, as you can imagine.

The only good I can see coming from Teddy Kennedy's plight is that it will raise awareness of the tremendous need for more research to get a handle on this disease. Even the youngest and healthiest of glioma patients rarely last more than five years, and that's after repeated rounds of chemo, radiation and surgeries to remove tumors that grow back.

[americanwomaninpa]

Why are all Kennedy sites closed?

[bmnehls]

Its so unfortunate that it is brain cancer, its one of the hardest forms to fight. However, my grandmother, who died from brain cancer 7 years ago, was told that she only had a year at most to live when she was diagnosed but she ended up living for 10 more years, but she wasn't all there for the last five years. With what medicine was able to do almost two decades ago that kept my grandmother alive, I hope that newer technology will give Senator Kennedy a better chance.

[CircleofHealth]

It's terribly sad that the Democratic patriarch who has done so much good has fallen ill at this time.

Some have indicated that Kennedy is a "fighter" who will win. A friend I recently lost to this disease, used similar rhetoric. The notion that we have to "go to war" in order to "win" is as misplaced in our interaction with our bodies and the illnesses that befall them, as it is in world politics, where diplomacy and dialogue are better routes.

How does that translate in a health challenge like this one? Diplomacy aims to get to the root of a problem and find a way to address it. In forty years of the "war on cancer," we haven't won. Chemotherapy and radiation are like a temporary cease-fire-- that fails to treat on the causative level. There are practitioners who use personaliz­ed/integra­tive approaches to cancer treatment, both in this country and around the world -- with surprising success rates, but people are unaware of them-- because the current medical world view asserts its limited range of knowledge, rather than inquiring into successful approaches, outside its orthodoxy.

Would that Senator Kennedy knew of these approaches now when he needs them most-- for his sake, and ours. But sadly, that's unlikely to happen because once doctors get hold of famous clients, they don't let them go, even when they have nothing to offer them. For information on integrative health, sign up at; www.health-journalist.com

[Menocu]

Hearing this news broke my heart, as my brother recently passed away from a brain tumor (blastoma). We need good men like Ted fighting for us, especially now. Thank you for all the good you have done and will continue to do, TK.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

Ted is a fighter, to the end. This isn't the end for him, and If I know this guy like I think I do, he will work even harder to do more, get more passed for the American people, before he dies. The best gift we can give this man, is to make sure our senators, congressmen do thier jobs for all of us. That means calling them, not letting them off the hook. The more we stand united, the stronger this man will feel. The fight for any of us isn't over yet, its just beginning. Let's show this man we have what it takes to get behind leaders who will work for us, causes that will help others, and put the word NO out of our vocabularies. Ted would be proud of us. Don't let him down.

[DFDoerr]

Communists everywhere are mourning.

[rucognizant]

Really heart warning posts!
Here is something you can all do as a tribute to Sen. Kennedy, while he is incapacitated.
Years ago to copyright something, you had to fill out a form and send a $10.00 fee to Washington
where it was archived. Senator Kennedy proposed and got passed through; a bill that simplified the process, so that putting a c in a circle on your finished artwork, gave you instant legal protection, so that if someone copied it you could sue for compensation. No paperwork. No cost to the artist.
The Shawn Bentley Orphaned Works Act of 2008, is poised to go through both bodies. ( Shawn Bentley was a LOBBIEST for Time Warner who died of cancer in '05. He must have been a popular guy, if misguided!
The bills S 2913, & HR 5889 named for him proposed by Rep. Berman of Ca. and CO-SPONSORED by John Conyers, among others.........will require the artist to file their works with a "PRIVATE" database, or be designated an "Orphan Work" unprotected by law from being copied and used. You KNOW if it's privatized there WILL BE A FEE, and time lost from painting to process it! The bill calls it a "database" because calling it a "registry" will VIOLATE International Copyright agreements!

[e2008usa]

TED, WE DID THIS RACE TOGETHER AND WE
WILL STAND UP UNITED WITH YOU SIDE BY SIDE
TODAY AND TOMORROW AND IN THE NEXT GENERATION

[HatingTheGame]

This is so sad. My cousin, age 45, recently had this. Although the article above quotes NCI about cell phones, I think that is a total lie. My cousin sold insurance, and was always on the phone. He was right handed, so he was talking on the cell through his left side and writing with his right hand. He had one of those old Nokias that got really hot after 15 minutes. No family history. No other ailments.

Ted Kennedy was the "hardest working man in Congress" meaning he was on the phone all the time. Writing with his right hand, talking via his left ear.

I have held those phones and they get really hot -- Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR). When you are inside, it gets hotter since it has to juice up more to get the signal. What's even more distressing are people continuously wearing blue tooth devices on their ear -- a battery source right next to your brain. When a call comes it, it sparks up even more.

Just like cigarette companies that have for years circulated bogus studies to cause confusion and uncertainty about cigarettes, so too are cell phone companies doing the same thing.

Cellphones will kill a lot of people on this planet than Cigs, maybe by the end, even more than cigarettes. And that's a fact. Unfortunately before it is finally admitted, so many more people will die needlessly.

Its criminal.

[danimalia]

The statement by NCI is absolutely a lie. The cell phone lie is as bad as the lies about cigarettes. Cell phones cause tumors on the side of the head used with the phone. There is good research that shows this. Read the book by George Carlo on cell phone dangers.

And brain cancer is also caused by aspartame (nutrasweet), which is metabolized into formaldehyde by the liver. Consuming aspartame results in formaldehyde toxicity, which has been proven by radiolabeled aspartame studies. This has been known for years, and yet the FDA still maintains it is perfectly safe.

Which brings to mind another lie of the FDA regarding food colorants and preservatives (benzoates particularly). These chemicals cause behavioral problems in children, which has been proven by a multimillion dollar study in the UK. Consequently, in the UK there is much discussion about banning these chemicals entirely. Yet there is not a word in the US media, and complete silence from the FDA.

The FDA is simultaneously one of the most evil and corrupt government agencies, and one of the most trusted.

[HatingTheGame]

I hope that Kennedy realizes this. Asks around and sees the other cases on this, reads the studies, and tragically realizes that the technologies that enabled him to do such great work has also killed him.

My 45 year old cousin was told that he had 6 to 9 months. They operated on him to try and get out the tumor, and while that operation left him ok (his speech was slightly disjointed, and he kept forgetting things), he was able to function. Then suddenly in month 6 he deteriorated and died quickly. Thankfully it was painless. But its left his family shattered.

The greatest gift that Kennedy can leave us (other than his legislative legacy) is if he takes his final battle to be warning the world about the dangers of the cell phone and EMR. Cell phones around the world are growing at an incredible rate. In some developing countries there are more cell phones than landlines. This is an unexploded bomb waiting to go off, and will kill more people than terrorism. Now that he shouldn't care about lobbyists and funding his next race.

In the meantime I would urge all people to get their phones checked for EMR. Don't talk for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, and use landlines when they can. And stop walking around with those ridiculous wireless headsets with the battery right next to your head.

[AnitaWagner]

So do you have scientific proof of your claims, or is this just one more time-wasting conspiracy theory?

My Mom died of three primary brain tumors 18 months ago and she used her cell phone hardly ever and never for long calls, she didn't like it.

[AsaNisMasa]

Research has shown that THC was able to destroy malignant tumors in rats and there are other studies shown to have benefits on humans.

[zizyphus]

The media are censoring all mention of this research into cannabinoids.

[Spiriteddona]

Spirited Dona says-- reading about cancer, it is not an automatic death sentence. only a few cancers are totally resistant. non malignant tumors are almost always liveable!, if you know a person with this

[AnitaWagner]

Many cancers like breast cancer are detectable and, if caught early, are cureable. Not so with brain tumors. They are only detected after the patient becomes symptomatic, and by that time the tumor is very difficult to eradicate, even with surgery. Glioblastoma multiforme, which took my mother's life, is so named for the eratic shape of this highly aggressive form of cancer that necrotizes the brain tissue around it. Even the most skilled brain surgeons will not claim to be able to get all of the cancer - surgery in this instance is merely a way to keep the disease at bay for as long as possible. Likewise with chemo and radiation.

[TXfemmom]

I recently saw a special on a study being done in which they are targeting glioblastomas with a genetic vaccine, in which the patients own cells are added to the vaccine, and then the vaccine is taught to recognize those cells and destoy or cause the body to attack only those cells. In that study, they had several patients who had aggressively malignant tumors and are living, and have had their tumors shrink and disappear, in one of them, and the others were not enlarging. The study was either at M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, or Duke, or perhaps, both of them.

These new, genetic marker treatments are designed for one patient at a time, and have shown great results in several of them, and the really great part is that only the cancer cells are attacked, and the healthy cells in the area are not damaged, and the immune system of the patient is not compromised.

I hope that the Senators and others in the country are helped by this study, and perhaps get to participate in it.

[HatingTheGame]

Of course the great thing about Senators is that they have health insurance...

[AnitaWagner]

What great news! Thanks for sharing it. I recall reading that M.D. Anderson and Duke both are on the forefront of brain tumor research when my mother was diagnosed with three GBMs. She died nine months later, in September 2006.

[cartach]

Anybody interested in ongoing research in this area should Google Oncholytics Biotech,a company currently performing trials on the use of reovirus in the treatment of many types of cancers including malignant brain tumours. This is being done in both the UK and the US. The treatment can be combined with radiation/­chemothera­py. In the interests of full disclosure, I have owned a few shares in the company which is listed on the Nasdaq and the Toronto exchanges for some years ,but I truly believe it has good possibilities. One thing about it is that it has shown no negative side effects on patients enrolled in the trials. New treatments such as this one, which show some promise as they are actually saving some lives now, should be given the fast track by the FDA more often.

[glesslib]

I've read several articles over the years saying that Ted Kennedy is the hardest working member of the Senate. His selfless dedication to causes affecting the least among us is beyond admirable.

All the grief and sorrow that the Kennedy family has suffered over the years has made headlines. It's just unfortunate that much less was written about what a giant this man has been in championing us all.