Have you been paying attention to those bouts of headache that plague you before an important meeting? If you belong to the breed that believes in popping a headache pill to get on with your day, here’s a thought— it may be a brain tumour and not just a simple migraine.
Take the case of Mohammed Basheer*, who was referred to doctors at Fortis Malar Hospital with a prognosis of an ENT problem with an intense one-sided headache. After a scan was taken by curious doctors, who were unable to diagnose the reason behind the headache, they found that there was a tumour in Basheer’s brain. “It had to be removed immediately, otherwise it could have been fatal,” said Dr V Soundappan, senior consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital.
Though only a small fraction of people with headaches have been seen to have neurological problems that caused the pain, Soundappan pointed out that almost every person with a brain problem had headache as a symptom. “There are lots of people who have headaches periodically and self-diagnose believing that it is a migraine. Surely some of them may have tumours or anuerysyms which even general practitioners will not be able to identify,” he added. This is why it might not be such a bad idea to pay a visit to a neurologist to find out whether your headache is ‘benign’ or ‘malignant’.
So what are the differences between a normal headache and one caused by neurological issues? According to Dr Soundappan, watching for variations in the pattern of headaches is the key, “Every person has a different pattern when they have headaches — the severity, duration, interval and so on. Whenever the headaches become irregular and come more often or harder than they normally are, then that warrants neurological care,” he said.
The other warning signs are when a person wakes up with a severe headache that subsides as soon as they have a spell of vomiting — this is almost always a sign of a brain tumour or increased pressure in the brain.
“Fever with headaches or waking up with blurry vision, weakness or seizures are all signs of either an aneurysm or even meningitis,” he said. So, before you dismiss your headache the next time it comes calling, stop and consider how bad it is — you may be able to catch a neurological issue early and nip it in the bud.
(* Name changed on request)
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