By Chris Ryan and Dr. Kevin Buckman
Astrocytomas amongst children tend affect the central nervous system which includes the brain and the spinal cord. Astrocytomas are not very common among children. However, among the children below the age of fifteen this is second in the list of cancers which can occur frequently. In United States around 1,200 to 1,500 children have new brain tumors each year. Around 40,000 children around the world are diagnosed with brain tumor each year. Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET), is a type of brain cancer that is common among boys. However astrocytomas occur among both boys and girls.
Approximately twenty percent of Astrocytomas tends to occur among children who below the age of two. Among the category of brain cancers Astrocytomas are around ten percent. A particular type of cells called gilial cells are composed in the brain’s connective tissue. The astrocytes have a star shape and are consisted in the brain’s glial tissue matrix. The Astrocytes tend to for a tumor which is called Astrocytomas, when they become malignant. In the medical terms the suffix “oma” is known as cancer. The Astrocytomas are put in the category glioma which is also the cancer of the brain’s connective tissue since they are in association with the glial tissue.
Of all the categories of brain tumors Astrocytomas represent thirteen percent. The type of brain tumor such as glioblastoma multiforme represents twenty – three percent of all the brain tumors. The classification of astrocytomas is done on the basis of its formation in the different parts of the brain. The brain tumor forming in the brain stem are called cerebellar astrocytomas and the tumor forming in the main part of the brain that is cerebrum is called cerebral astrocytomas.The type of brain tumor most commly found among the children is the Cerebellar astrocytomas where as cerebal tumors are more common among the adults.
The part of the brain associated with the detection of the body temperature is called thalamus. The part of the brain associated with sleep regulation, appetite and body temperature is known as hypothalamus. Suprasellar astrocytomas is the term used for the astrocytomas of the thalamus and hypothalamus. “Supra” is the is the medical terminology for above and the term “seller” is used to refer to the anatomical area in the brain where the thalamus and the hypothalamus is located. The suprasellar astrocytomas can be of different types such as fibrillary astrocytoma and pilocytic astrocytoma. The tumours are slow and malignant. Its symptoms include headache fatigue and vomiting.
About www.cancer.im
When an individual is diagnosed with cancer, the feeling of panic is overwhelming. As loved ones hear the news, they too are overwhelmed and often do not know what to do. Cancer.im provides a common sense approach to managing this chaos and uncertainty. The goal is to increase the patient’s quality of life and enable them to take back control.
Cancer.im is a social network for cancer patients, advocates, and volunteers. Members can connect to other people affected by cancer, organize the personal and professional resources available to them, research the qualitative and quantitative aspects of cancer, and create a customized strategy for beating or preventing the disease.
Cancer.im was founded by people with firsthand experience with cancer. Cancer.im continues to grow by the individuals who continually donate their time, resources, and experience to helping cancer patients navigate the obstacles they face. Our driving principles are based on clinical data which have shown that:
Cancer patients who have an active support network, outlive cancer patients who do not
Increasing a Cancer Patient’s Quality of Life, directly lowers the incidence of morbidity
Together, we believe that the Cancer.im social network can change the way in which patients view and manage their disease.
Cancer.im is guided by the following principles which collectively make up our mission.
Cancer is a generic term used to describe a unique disease. We want to empower every cancer patient with the information and resources they need to create a customized cancer strategy as unique as they are.
Cancer experiences are often characterized by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. We want to turn cancer patients from hopeless to hopeful, and cancer advocates from helpless to helpful.
Every individual who has been through an experience with cancer has unique wisdom that others can benefit from. We want to harvest and organize this wisdom and make it available to the world.
Cancer patients who have an active support network outlive cancer patient who do not. We want to empower every cancer patient, regardless of their ability to pay, with the ability of organizing and managing their own support network and outlive this disease.
Increasing a cancer patient’s quality of life directly lowers the incidence of morbidity. We want to organize and empower those who surround a patient with the knowledge and ability to directly affect that patient’s quality of life for the better by alleviating the daily burden associated with cancer.
With these principles always in mind, and the continual dedication of our online community, we can change the way the world views and manages cancer!