Many brain tumour patients know all too well the trauma of an epileptic seizure, and the anxiety of living waiting for one to strike.
Seizures are common in patients with brain tumours, and epilepsy can significantly impact their quality of life.
Shahleen Hussain, 22, from Burnley, fell into a 24-hour coma at school when she was 13. Doctors misdiagnosed her symptoms as being migraines for years, before an MRI at 15 revealed a low-grade meningioma, with doctors predicting she had just six months to live. She defied the odds, managing her condition without surgery, but now lives with ongoing challenges, which include epilepsy.
“At 21, my life took another turn,” Shahleen said. “I began having seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy, a condition linked to the tumour. This required more lifestyle changes and medication, forcing me to step away from my dream of becoming a qualified teacher.
“Just because my tumour isn’t cancerous doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect me. I live with severe headaches, nosebleeds, hair loss, and the daily unpredictability of epilepsy. The impact of a brain tumour is an invisible struggle, one that people often overlook.”
Brain tumour-related epilepsy (BTRE) is one of the most common symptoms of a brain tumour and has an incidence varying from 30-70% in primary brain tumour patients. One in five patients with a secondary brain tumour (a type of cancer that originates in another part of the body and then spreads to the brain) may experience epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures can add a further burden to brain tumours, inducing even more disabling effects; epilepsy is considered an important risk factor for long-term disability. It can induce neuropsychological deficits, affecting memory, attention, and executive functions.
And, as a result of taking antiseizure medications long term, patients often experience further cognitive and behavioural challenges, reducing their sense of autonomy – already impaired by the tumour and its treatments.
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