People with higher education are more prone to this disease.
Educated people are much more likely to be diagnosed with a brain tumor, shows a new study from University College London. Glioma is the most common type of brain tumor that develops in the main supporting brain cells, called glial cells – nearly a quarter more prevalent among people who have higher education, experts say.
Experts analyzed data from 4.3 million people in Sweden born between 1911 and 1961. Specialists monitor them in the period from 1993 to 2010 and found that the 7100 5700 women and men had developed a brain tumor. Then the researchers examined the lifestyle factors of the participants, including level of education, amount of disposable income and marital status. It was found that men with higher education were 19% more likely to develop glioma than men who had only 9 years of compulsory education. Among educated women the risk of developing glioma was 23% higher and the risk of developing meningioma – a tumor that occurs in the tissues that protect the brain and spinal cord – is 16% higher.
However, the researchers stressed that they found no biological reason to explain why educated people are at higher risk of development of brain tumors.
