Understanding how people respond to symptoms of a brain tumor

A recent study from King’s College London and Cambridge University highlighted that people may experience multiple subtle changes before being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

The study focused on these changes as missed opportunities to diagnose brain tumours earlier, and how increased awareness of these changes could lead to more rapid investigation and referral.

Following on from that study, Dr. Suzanne Scott from King’s College London has published a paper in PLOS ONE which focuses on what patients and their families thought about those changes and how they decided to seek medical help—often on more than one occasion.

“We have previously highlighted that people may experience multiple subtle changes before being diagnosed with a brain tumour”, explains Dr. Scott, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology. “For instance, changes in sleep, memory, speaking, concentration, and balance, sensations, and senses or feeling ‘not me’.”

“In this new study we found that patients often didn’t consider seeking help for many of the changes as they were mild, infrequent, intermittent, and didn’t interfere with what they needed to do. We often believe that symptoms need to be severe, constant and interfering to mean they are something serious and worth going to the doctor for. To encourage more timely diagnosis of brain tumour this belief may need to be addressed.”

Source: Read Full Article