Recently, a 5-year-old child suffering from malignant tumor news appeared on the hot search. It is reported that a 5-year-old child in Changsha, Hunan Province, suddenly had a headache and vomiting, and was diagnosed with diffuse astrocytoma after seeking medical treatment.
What exactly is astrocytomas? What are its characteristics?
Astrocytomas, also known as glioblastomas, are tumors formed by astrocytes in the nervous system. Astrocytomas have many tissue types, the most common being hairy astrocytomas, diffuse astrocytomas, anaplastic astrocytomas, and polymorphic glioblastomas.
Among them, hair cell astrocytomas have the lowest degree of malignancy and can be cured with complete resection. In contrast, polyform glyblastoma is the most malignant and incurable, with the lowest chance of survival.
Adults aged 25 to 45 years are the main population affected by astrocytoma, with a similar proportion of men to women. It should be noted that the cure effect of patients younger or older than 40 years old is relatively poor, and the mortality rate is higher.
Moreover, astrocytoma is generally prone to recurrence, but fortunately, the condition of astrocytoma is slow to develop and has a certain period of stability. Some patients have a stability period of 5-7 years, but most patients will eventually worsen, which is really sad.
If you are unfortunate enough to develop astrocytoma, what are the symptoms?
Astrocytomas, which in most cases last for years, may exhibit the following:
Headache, which may worsen late at night, when bending over, or when moving;
Seizures;
Confusion of thought or memory impairment;
Numbness and weakness in both arms or legs;
changes in vision, such as blindness or diplopia;
Conversational disorders, inability to find the right language to communicate with people;
Personality changes.
Illness is always painful, so what are the options for treatment?
Because astrocytoma is a disease of the nervous system, treatment of astrocytoma is mainly by improving the neurological symptoms of the patient. Depending on the severity of the disease, surgical resection or chemotherapy may be available to treat astrocytoma.
In addition, there is a drug specifically for the treatment of astrocytoma, temozolomide capsules, which can alleviate the pain of patients, delay the recurrence of the disease and prolong the life time.
In addition, there is a more terrible situation about astrocytoma, that is, this disease has a certain hereditary nature, and is related to chemical, congenital and other factors, and may also be related to genetic mutations.
Therefore, if someone or child in the family has some symptoms, it is necessary to detect and treat it as soon as possible, and the sooner the intervention is, the better the effect.