Researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found that allergies and asthma that stimulate inflammation may be protective suggests against brain tumor development. They have begun to ask questions about whether the use of antihistamines to control the inflammation could eliminate that protection.
Preliminary findings suggest that a small amount of inflammation in the brain may protect against brain tumor development, but suggest that people continue to take antihistamines and chicken pox vaccine as the study continues.
The study's lead author, Melissa Bondy, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Epidemiology is looking to discover if the immune system plays a role in development of brain tumors. It could be that allergies and asthma produce enough inflammation in the brain to keep immune system cells active, and that this surveillance works to eliminate cancer beginning to develop in the brain, and now the team is investigating whether antihistamines that counter that inflammation eliminates the protective effect. The Brain Based Business site will check back in on this study, to follow news about the possible relationship between antihistamines and the development of brain tumors. What doe you think?
Comment Preview