7 subtle signs brain tumour patients miss because they don't 'affect their life'

Doctors have warned of seven changes people with a brain tumour might notice but fail to act on. The experts say many people don't seek help despite experiencing issues with things such as memory, senses or just not feeling themselves.

Instead they just got on with things because they mistakenly believed they needed to have symptoms which were "severe, constant and interfering" in their lives before they were serious enough to visit the doctor. But this means there can be a delay in getting medical help when speed of diagnosis often is important when it comes to treatment.

On Friday TV presenter Davina McCall told how she was undergoing surgery for a brain tumour which was picked up during a routine check up. It is not known if she suffered any symptoms at all ahead of the discovery of her 14mm tumour, which is non-cancerous.

However a study from King’s College London and Cambridge University found many people with a brain tumour may experience multiple changes before being diagnosed. It said delays in getting these checked out could be "missed opportunities to diagnose brain tumours earlier" and increasing awareness cold lead to more rapid investigation and referral.

Dr Suzanne Scott from King’s College London said following a report into the missed changes patients had explained how they decided to seek medical help. She said: "We have previously highlighted that people may experience multiple subtle changes before being diagnosed with a brain tumour."

She said these were for example:

• Changes in sleep
• Changes in memory
• Changes in speaking
• Changes in concentration
• Changes in balance
• Changes in sensations
• Changes in senses or feeling ‘not me’.

She added: "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 tumor this belief may need to be addressed.”

The 2019 study quizzed 39 adult patients from Eastern and NW England who had been diagnosed with primary brain cancer. It showed that patients often thought the changes were normal or due to age, stress, tiredness and nothing to worry about.

Some thought it would be "silly" to go the doctor with such seemingly minor issues and did not want to waste the GP’s time. This was especially the case if there were more pressing things to do.

Revisiting to the doctor was also found to be tricky if patients had received reassurance that it was nothing to worry about at their first visit. However researchers concluded: "The study highlights implications for theory, awareness campaigns and potential opportunities promoting more timely help-seeking."