Breaking bad: barriers in the timely diagnosis of brain tumors

It is a very common practice to label the episodes of headache, sleepless nights, nausea, vomiting and weight loss as “routine complaints”. Though highly prevalent, such signs and symptoms can be an indicator of a life-threatening brain tumor. The general population of the underdeveloped and the developing countries is habitual of taking over-the-counter drugs to manage these presentations while avoiding  specialists' consultations till later stages of the brain tumours. Here, we try to discuss and identify few major barriers in the timely diagnosis of brain tumors and how to overcome them at the grass-roots level in Pakistan.