The oncologist called unusual smells indicating a brain tumor

The sudden appearance of unfamiliar, intrusive, or unpleasant odors that did not exist before may signal possible health problems, including a brain tumor. On July 31, the oncologist of the Sberbank Health medical company, Suna Isakova, told Izvestia about this.

This phenomenon occurs due to impaired information processing in the olfactory centers located in the frontal lobes of the brain. An increasing neoplasm can compress the nerve cells responsible for the perception of odors, which leads to their distortion.

At the same time, the specialist emphasizes that the feeling of an unusual smell does not always indicate an oncological disease. This symptom can be one of many when a tumor develops and does not always appear among the first signs of the disease.

"If an unusual smell is felt not only by the person himself, but also by others, this may be due to a visually detectable formation in which there is a site of tissue destruction with the formation of an open wound. In such cases, the smell can be sharp, unpleasant and noticeable to everyone," the doctor noted.

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According to her, brain tumors can cause other symptoms: headaches, seizures, loss of consciousness, fatigue and weakness. However, she noted that the tumor is a rare cause of strange odors.

More often, these symptoms are associated with other diseases, such as sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses), allergic rhinitis, or are a side effect of taking certain medications. Special attention should be paid to this symptom if it persists for a long time (more than a month) and does not disappear after the elimination of possible causes or prescribed treatment.

To find out the causes of any alarming symptoms, the doctor recommends contacting a therapist who will conduct an examination, interview and, if necessary, prescribe laboratory and instrumental studies.

On June 16, Isakova told Izvestia about the non-obvious symptoms of a brain tumor. According to her, brain tumors are detected annually in 25 people out of 100 thousand. About a third of cases turn out to be malignant.