Have you heard of Brain Metastases? Do you want to know what it is? Brain Metastases occur when cancer from other parts of the body spreads to the brain which results in a brain tumor. Also called metastatic brain cancer or brain Mets, they are more common than the tumors that originate in the brain. It is found that more than 200,00 new cases of brain metastases are found every year in the U.S and their number is said to be raising rapidly.

Most common types of cancer that can cause brain metastases are lung, breast, colon, and kidney cancer. These cancers can separate from their basic tumor and reach the brain, commonly to the cerebral hemispheres or cerebellum through the bloodstream. These cancer cells form a mass in the brain causing brain metastases, and showing a variety of symptoms. But its symptoms and signs are hard to see in the initial state. Many people get diagnosed with brain metastases when doing a health check-up or while diagnosing the stage of their core cancer.

Common signs and Symptoms of brain metastases

The symptoms and signs of brain metastases depend on the position and size of your tumor. But the most common symptoms are:

Increased Intracranial pressure (ICP)

Most of the symptoms that patients who are diagnosed with brain metastases faces is due to the growing pressure inside the skull. This causes headaches, nausea, or some issue with consciousness. They can also injure the brain or spinal cord.

Headaches

One of the most common symptoms that are experienced by half of the patients in the initial stage and the majority in the advanced stages is headaches. You may experience the worse pain in the morning, but it will get reduced after a while.

Vomiting

Due to this pressure in the skull, you may experience vomiting or nausea. This symptom can be more common among children compared among adults.

Change in the level of consciousness

Brain tumor causes a lot of changes in individual mental stability. It may cause small changes like a subtle change in personality to a coma. Most of the patients will experience some sort of changes in their consciousness at some stages of brain metastases.

Seizure

When your brain develops a tumor, it will affect the traveling of electrical impulses through it, and due to this sudden change in the normal functioning of your brain, you may experience a seizure or partial seizures. Seizures can result in a change in the way you smell and taste, it can cause muscle spasms, numbness, and speech problems. With age, especially in people over 45 years the risks of epilepsy will increase.

Issues with speech and vision

Brain metastases can result in issues with speech, vision, and understanding.

So, if you are experiencing any or some of these symptoms, do a health check-up and diagnose the problem quickly.