Intracranial tumors are all kinds of brain cancers, which are one of the common diseases of the nervous system and do great harm to the function of the human nervous system. Generally divided into two categories: primary and intermediate. Primary intracranial tumors can occur in brain tissue, meninges, cranial nerves, pituitary gland, vascular residual embryonic tissue and so on. Secondary tumor refers to the metastatic tumor formed by malignant tumor metastasis or intracranial invasion of other parts of the body.
In recent years, the incidence of intracranial tumors is on the rise. According to statistics, brain cancer accounts for about 5% of systemic tumors and 70% of childhood tumors, while other malignant tumors will eventually metastasize to the brain. Because of its expansive and invasive growth, once it is in a certain space in the brain, whether benign or malignant, it will inevitably increase intracranial pressure, compress brain tissue, lead to central nervous system damage, and endanger the life of patients.
Intracranial tumors can occur at any age, especially at the age of 20-50. Tumors in the posterior cranial fossa and midline are more common in children, mainly medulloblastoma, craniopharyngioma and ependymoma. Gliomas in the cerebral hemisphere are the most common in adults, such as astrocytoma, glioblastoma and ependymoma, followed by meningioma, pituitary adenoma and craniopharyngioma, neurofibroma, cavernous hemangioma and cholesteatoma. There is no significant gender difference in the incidence of primary intracranial tumors, and males are slightly higher than females.
Etiology and pathogenesis of brain cancer: Chinese medicine believes that the formation of brain tumor is due to the internal injury of seven emotions, which leads to the dysfunction of zang-fu organs, plus the invasion of external evils, cold and heat fighting, phlegm stagnation, and long-term accumulation in a certain part of the body. Experts draw lessons from the strengths of many countries, and after painstaking research, summarize the causes of brain tumors into internal and external factors, that is, internal factors are quality factors or susceptible factors, and external factors are inducing or encouraging factors, but one will not get sick. He believes that brain tumors belong to the category of "headache" and "head wind" in traditional Chinese medicine. The main causes are kidney deficiency, marrow dystrophy, liver and kidney homology, kidney deficiency and liver deficiency, liver wind moving, evil toxin blocking the brain, phlegm blocking the collaterals, blood gas stagnation, "the head is the meeting of all yang", and it is the least tolerant of evil spirits. The research of tumor molecular biology shows that there are two kinds of genes closely related to the occurrence and development of tumor. One is tumor gene, and the other is anti-tumor gene. The activation and over-expression of anti-tumor genes induce the formation of tumors, and the existence and expression of anti-tumor genes help to inhibit the occurrence of tumors. Tumor genes can exist in normal cells and do not express tumor characteristics. When these cells are affected by tumorigenic factors, such as virus, chemical tumorigenesis and radiation, tumor genes in cells are activated, cell phenotype changes, tumor characteristics are expressed, and these cells expand rapidly, thus forming real tumor entities. At present, it is considered that the factors inducing tumor are genetic factors, physical factors, chemical factors and oncogenic virus.
Favorable site of brain cancer: The location of intracranial tumor is often obviously related to the tumor type. Glioma mostly occurs in the cerebral hemisphere, pituitary adenoma mostly occurs in the sellar region, acoustic neuroma mostly occurs in the cerebellopontine angle, hemangioblastoma mostly occurs in the cerebellum, and medulloblastoma mostly occurs in the vermis of the cerebellum.
Clinical manifestations of intracranial tumors: There are great differences according to their pathological types, locations and main velocities, but the same characteristics are as follows: 1, increased intracranial pressure; 2. Symptoms of localized lesions; 3. The progress of the disease.
(1) More than 90% patients with brain tumors have symptoms of intracranial hypertension, as follows:
1, headache, nausea, vomiting and headache are mostly located in the forehead and temporal area, which is a paroxysmal aggravation of persistent headache. Headache is mostly aggravated in the morning and can be normal during intermission.
2, papilla edema and decreased vision.
3. Symptoms such as mental and consciousness disorders: dizziness, diplopia, transient blackness, cataplexy, confusion, mental anxiety or indifference, which can lead to epilepsy and even coma.
4. Changes of vital signs: When moderate and severe acute intracranial pressure increases, it often causes breathing, pulse, slowing down and blood pressure increasing.
(2) Local symptoms and signs: It mainly depends on the location where the tumor grows, so the tumor can be diagnosed according to the specific symptoms and signs of the patient.
(1) Clinical symptoms of cerebral hemisphere tumors:
1, mental symptoms: slow response, lazy life, near memory loss, even loss, serious loss of insight and judgment, but also short temper, excitability or euphoria.
2. Seizures: including generalized seizures and localized seizures, the frontal lobe is the most common, followed by temporal lobe, parietal lobe and occipital lobe. In some cases, there are premonitions before convulsions, such as temporal lobe tumors, hallucinations and dizziness before seizures. There may be abnormal feelings such as numbness of limbs before the attack of parietal lobe tumor.
3. Symptom of pyramidal tract damage: It is characterized by positive pathological signs of weakness or paralysis of the contralateral limb or single limb of the tumor.
4. Sensory disturbance: manifested as position sensation, two-point resolution sensation, graphic sensation, material sensation and solid sensation of the opposite limb of the tumor.
5. Aphasia: divided into motor aphasia and sensory aphasia.
6. Visual field changes: visual field defect and hemianopia.
(2) Clinical manifestations of sella turcica tumor:
1. visual impairment: the tumor develops to the suprasellar region, causing vision loss and visual field defect, which is often the main reason for patients with sella turcica tumor to come to see a doctor. Fundus examination can find primary optic atrophy.
2, endocrine dysfunction: such as hypogonadism, male performance for impotence, loss of libido. Women show prolonged menstrual period or amenorrhea. Excessive secretion of growth hormone will lead to gigantism before development and acromegaly after development.
(3) Clinical symptoms of pineal region tumors:
1. Symptoms of tetrad compression: concentrated in two aspects, namely: visual impairment, pupil's response and adjustment to light, tinnitus and deafness; Unstable grip, staggering gait, horizontal nystagmus, incomplete paralysis of limbs, bilateral pyramidal tract sign; Diabetes insipidus, lethargy, obesity, systemic development stagnation, male visible precocious puberty.
(4) Clinical symptoms of posterior cranial fossa tumor:
1, Cerebellar Hemisphere Symptoms: The main manifestations are ataxia of the affected limb, and there may be weakened or no tension in the affected muscle, slow knee tendon reflex, horizontal nystagmus, and sometimes vertical or rotational tremor.
2. Symptoms of cerebellar vermis: The main manifestations are ataxia at the distal end of trunk and lower limbs, feet are too far apart when walking, gait is faltering, or shaking from side to side like a drunkard.
3. Brainstem symptoms: The clinical manifestations are characterized by cross paralysis, such as midbrain lesions, characterized by oculomotor nerve paralysis and pons lesions on the affected side, which can be characterized by abduction and hemiparalysis of the affected side, ipsilateral sensory impairment and hearing impairment, and ipsilateral lingual muscle paralysis, laryngeal paralysis and retrolingual 1/3 loss of taste on the medulla oblongata lesions.
(4) Symptoms of cerebellopontine angle: tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness, facial numbness, hemifacial spasm, hemifacial paralysis, hoarseness, choking, ataxia of the affected side and horizontal eye shock.
(3) The course of disease progresses. Compression symptoms are not needed in the early stage of tumor. With the growth of tumor, clinical symptoms often show different degrees of compression. According to the growth site and malignant degree of tumor, the growth rate of tumor is different, and the degree of symptom progress is also fast and slow.
Treatment of brain cancer:
Recent surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, X knife, γ knife, etc. It is mostly used to treat intracranial tumors at home and abroad, but most of them are difficult to cure. Malignant tumor has a short course of disease and rapid development. According to the degree of malignancy or the sensitivity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, tumors growing in important parts such as brain stem and thalamus are difficult or inoperable. After X- knife, radiotherapy and other treatments, the tumor can shrink or control its growth in a short time, and then the tumor will not regrow. Benign tumors have a long course of disease, slow growth and are not easy to recur after operation. However, brain tumors that grow in important parts such as brain stem can only be partially or mostly removed after surgery, and the tumors will recur and grow again after surgery. The average survival rate of intracranial malignant tumor after radiotherapy and chemotherapy is less than one year. Benign intracranial tumors such as glioma, pituitary adenoma, craniopharyngioma and cholesteatoma are not easy to be completely removed after surgery, and gamma knife, X knife and radiotherapy can not completely kill the tumors.
The expert group of Beijing Tongxin Hospital, drawing on the strengths of many experts, combined the macro-treatment of obstetric syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine with the micro-analysis of modern medicine and devoted itself to studying brain tumors from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine for more than 30 years. The pathogenesis and treatment of brain tumors, with its unique insights that break through the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, have attracted the attention of the medical community and been widely recognized by the society. He believes that although there are many methods to treat intracranial tumors at home and abroad, most of them are difficult to cure, and most patients will still relapse. The occurrence of brain tumor and its symptoms of headache, dizziness, paralysis, hearing and vision impairment in different degrees are mostly common symptoms of liver and kidney deficiency. Liver qi stores blood, kidney stores essence, 1/2 is the main bone, and the marrow communicates with the brain, which interact physiologically and pathologically. In order to overcome the difficulties in the treatment of brain tumor, he carefully studied the pathological data according to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine and the diagnosis of traditional Chinese and western medicine. Combining the theory of traditional Chinese medicine with modern medicine, through repeated practical research and demonstration, we broke through the traditional methods of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis and fighting poison with poison, and established a set of relatively perfect and advanced anti-brain tumor theory. He treated the brain tumor according to its type, location, pathology and symptoms. In drug treatment, he started with regulating the liver and kidney, calming the liver and calming the wind, tonifying the kidney and strengthening the brain, using traditional Chinese medicine to raise and lower turbidity, softening hard mass, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Therefore, the traditional Chinese medicine acting on the tumor enters the brain through the meridians, thus reaching the focus, and the failed tumor cells can rise to sweat and fall to stool, so that the medicine can enter the door and get out of the body. After unremitting efforts, dozens of natural Chinese herbal medicines have been screened out from thousands of Chinese herbal medicines. After further conditioning, processing, extraction and sublimation, they can effectively kill or inhibit tumor cells without damaging normal tissues and can be supplemented. This series of drugs can smoothly pass through the blood-brain barrier, directly reach the focus along the meridians, and selectively enter the tumor through missiles, blocking the blood circulation of tumor tissue, blocking the blood oxygen supply of tumor, cutting off the malignant messenger of tumor, and inhibiting the replication and transcription of tumor cells. This series of drugs have obvious curative effects on glioma, pituitary adenoma, meningioma, craniopharyngioma, cholesteatoma, neurofibroma, pineal tumor, cavernoma, schwannoma, chordoma, brain metastasis and other intracranial benign and malignant tumors. , so that tumor cells lose their reproductive ability, so that the tumor body gradually shrinks, calcifies or disappears.