Allergies Linked to Lower Brain Cancer Risk

The head author of the study Dr. Bridget McCarthy, spoke to the press and said that while previously studies have found a link between allergies and glioma risk, but in this study, "... we confirmed that allergies are protective and found that the more allergies one has, the more protected he or she is."

The researchers used data from 419 patients with glioma and 612 cancer-free patients from Duke University and North Shore University Health System. The patients responded to survey questions about medically diagnosed allergies and antihistamine use. The control group had no history of cancer.

Dr. McCarthy claims that these findings confirm a relationship between immune system of allergy sufferers and risk of developing glioma, and in fact says that, "All types of allergies appear to be protective with reduced risk for those with more types of allergies.”  So this spring when you start sniffling and sneezing, know that at least it has a purpose.

"Assessment of Type of Allergy and Antihistamine Use in the Development of Glioma."
Bridget J. McCarthy, Kristin Rankin, Dora Il'yasova, Serap Erdal, Nicholas Vick, Francis Ali-Osman, Darell D. Bigner, and Faith Davis.