Brain Tumors: Glioblastoma Effects On The Body

When I was in third grade, my grandpa was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. It slowly began to spread throughout his body, and eventually reached his brain. He developed a brain tumor called a glioblastoma and became very sick. My grandpa forgot many things, including me. He was in a lot of pain because the headaches began to develop. Glioblastomas develop when there is a genetic change within a person’s body. The effects on the body can be very serious (“What is Glioblastoma?”). Glioblastomas are a cancerous tumor located in the brain. They are the most dangerous type of primary brain tumor. Glioblastomas will occur most often in males the age of 40 to 70. They develop in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Glioblastomas can
The parietal lobe is where a person uses their senses. If the brain develops in the parietal part of the brain, then a person will lose the ability to visualize things. The Wernicke’s area of the brain is where a person interprets language. If the tumor develops in that location the patient will have trouble speaking and comprehending people. The Occipital lobe contains the visual receptor. The effect on the person causes the person to have double vision or blurred vision. The Cerebellum controls the movement of the body. If the glioblastoma develops in this area the person will have trouble walking and will become very weak. The Motor Cortex also controls the movement and stops the person from being active. The Frontal Lobe is the worst part to develop a glioblastoma in. The Frontal Lobe has many jobs including memory storage, concentration, thought, judgment, personality, emotions, and speaking. This has the most effects on a person because their whole personality changes and they have mood swings. The patient begins to forget things and cannot concentrate for a long amount of time. The Temporal lobe is also another dangerous place to develop a glioblastoma. The temporal lobe is where a person stores more memory and where the brain learns to express behavior. If the brain tumor develops here, then behavior may become dangerous and different. The brain stem is a dangerous
13,000 people in the United States die within one year from a glioblastoma. Treatment may include surgery or chemotherapy. If a patient does undergo treatment, then their personality changes will get worse. Once a glioblastoma develops and the symptoms get worse chemotherapy will rarely help. A glioblastoma can be very large and cannot be removed. Glioblastomas are fatal because they are not easy to cure. The symptoms do not always show up right away and the tumor will begin to grow and spread. This will make the glioblastoma untreatable (“Glioblastoma Multiforme”). There are many effects of brain tumors, but the three main reasons are change in personality or mood, cancer spreading to the spine, or tumors creating their own blood supply. Tumors develop when there is a small change in the genes. In 2015, 12,630 men under the age of 50 were diagnosed with a glioblastoma brain tumor. Over half the men diagnosed in 2015 were pronounced dead that same year (“Glioblastoma Multiforme”). After my grandpa was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he gave up on treatments. My grandpa died from cancer on September 8,