The Brain Tumour Charity Launches Symptom Awareness Campaign
The Brain Tumour Charity has launched an awareness campaign to boost the speed of brain tumour diagnosis in adults. The Better Safe Than Tumour campaign was launched in July 2022, and the message has already reached millions of people. A specially designed symptom checker on the charity’s website has been used over 38,000 times.
If you or a loved one have been experiencing two or more of the following symptoms, you are strongly advised to get in touch with your doctor: Persistent or recurrent headaches; fatigue; seizures or fits; nausea and vomiting; loss or disturbance of vision; speech difficulties, memory problems, or loss of taste or smell.
Other common symptoms of a brain tumour include cognitive changes, and weakness, numbness or tingling of the extremities. It’s important to remember that while brain tumours are rare, they can progress quickly, so the earlier they are diagnosed and treated, the better the prognosis.
The Better Safe Than Tumour campaign has been launched on the shoulders of the Brain Tumour Charity’s successful HeadSmart campaign, which focused on improving the speed of brain tumour diagnosis in children and young people. This has led to the average diagnosis time in the UK falling from 13 weeks to 6.5 weeks.
This is clearly a great result, and now the Brain Tumour Charity are aiming even higher with their new campaign, with a target to reduce diagnosis times to four weeks. This will bring the UK on a par with other countries who perform well in brain tumour treatment.
Currently, 78% of people are diagnosed within three months of seeing a healthcare professional, but 42% had to visit a GP three or more times in order to get a correct diagnosis. Furthemore, 74% resorted to going to A&E with their symptoms, and 46% of patients were informed they had a brain tumour by an A&E doctor rather than a specialist.
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