With modern medical imaging, many brain tumors are being identified before patients develop anything but very mild symptoms such as new or unusually prolonged headaches. Classically, brain tumors present with symptoms related to their location similar to patients who present with strokes. For example, a patient presenting with gradual left sided weakness of the arm or leg could be at risk for having a right-sided brain tumor. A common presentation particularly in younger patients is the new onset of seizures. Other common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, double vision, increasing drowsiness.
Brain tumors occur in all age groups.
Therefore, we all carry some risk for developing a tumor at any age. The very young, meaning less than 2 years old, and the elderly are at particular risk for having tumors, which will significantly shorten their life. Interestingly, the types of tumors seen in the different age groups vary substantially. For example, the high-grade malignant glioblastoma is the most prevalent in the elderly while the medulloblastoma is most prevalent in infants. Both tumors can be life threatening, but behave very differently clinically.