No brain tumors for me (knock on wood)

So, this is just bizarre.  If you suffer from allergies, you are significantly less likely to have a brain tumor.  Good news for pretty much all the Greene family.  Via the Atlantic:

RESULTS: People who tested positive for allergy-related antibodies had an almost 50 percent lower risk of developing a glioma 20 years later. For women, testing positive for the IgE associated with specific allergens that are common in Norway, such as dust, pollen, mold and pets, was also associated with a 50 percent lower risk of glioblastoma. In men, no such association was found, but those who tested positive both for these specific antibodies and for other, unknown antibodies did have a 20 percent lower risk of developing this same type of tumor. The earlier IgE was present in patients’ blood samples, the greater the reduced risk of glioma.

CONCLUSION: The link between allergies and reduced risk of glioma is measurable and possibly causal, especially for women, and can be observed at least 20 years before diagnosis.

Nice to know there’s some benefit to all that sneezing and eye itching.

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