Brain Tumor Awareness Month

 Yes, it's brain tumor awareness month.

As much as I'd like to forget that life event, I feel like there are so many people struggling with the fears of that diagnosis that it's worth mentioning here on my blog.

Meningiomas are a poorly understudied and under researched brain tumor.  Click here to read about the research that is happening and some projects that are underway to help understand some more about why certain individuals may develop them.

If you'd like to read more about my journey, this is my post from last May.  Click here to read it (fyi there are some scary photos)  I don't like to draw attention to myself,  but most of you have no idea the number of people who are diagnosed with this.  Please, please, please if you know anyone who is going through this, let them know I am here to vent to, support or lend a hand to anyone in need.  Most people think that this kind of brain tumor is easy to deal with as most of them are benign.  However, many patients have other things to heal from after diagnosis.  Many have lost senses such as smell, sight (mom calls me eagle eye),  are paralyzed with nerve damage, deafness, paralysis, cognitive changes, severe mood changes, depression, seizures and more.  Too many lives have been claimed.  It needs to be studied!  Personally, I just don't know what to tell my kids or their doctors.  Could it be radiation from dental x-rays?  Is it hormonal?  Don't talk on your cell phones!  We just don't know.

If you'd like to contribute to the ongoing research, the ever expanding support group of "Meningioma Mommas" has a fund set up to donate to research. 

Click here for the link that you can donate to ... it is tax deductible and is appreciated greatly!

I've also posted some possible risks factors at the bottom of this page ... clearly we don't know enough about why we get them.  I just wish we could stop these tumors!

This is a photo I found on Meningioma Mommas facebook page ... Thank you to the inspiring photographer ... whoever you are!   Many hands needed in conquering this disease!

In Grace,
Krista

Meningioma Risk Factors

Meningiomas are most common in people between the ages of 40 and 70. They are more common in women than in men (74% meningioma patients are female). Among middle-aged patients, there is a marked female bias, with a female to male ratio of almost 3:1 in the brain and 6:1 in the spinal cord. Meningiomas are very rare in children, with pediatric cases accounting for only 2.5% of the total cases.

Currently, the two predisposing factors associated with meningiomas for which the strongest evidence exists are exposure to ionizing radiation and hormones. However, these factors remain largely unexplored and a large-scale examination on a population-based data set is needed to help clarify the roles of these risk factors in the development of meningioma tumors.

• Ionizing Radiation
• Hormones
• Other Predisposing Conditions

Ionizing radiation is the radiation used in medicine that creates ions by knocking electrons out of atoms. Ions penetrate and interfere with living tissue, causing tumor cells to die as they attempt to reproduce. Exposure to ionizing radiation has been found to be associated with a higher incidence of intracranial tumors and particularly meningiomas. Data from atomic bomb survivors exposed to high doses show a greatly increased risk for meningioma. There is also evidence indicating an association with meningioma from lower dose levels. A well-known example of ionizing radiation and meningioma comes from children in Israel who were given radiation for scale ringworm between 1948 and 1960. These children were observed to have a relative risk for meningioma of almost 10. The dose given to these children was approximately the amount used in dental radiographs prior to 1948. Within the Unites States, this is the most common form of exposure to ionizing radiation. A number of studies have linked the number of full mouth dental radiographs to risk of meningioma.
Radiation therapy for intracranial tumors has also been linked to meningioma risk, and animal studies support the notion that ionizing radiation can induce intracranial tumors, including meningiomas, by damaging DNA. No recent large-scale studies of meningioma risk relative to ionizing radiation have been conducted since the time that new radiographic procedures for delivering radiation have been developed. These methods use focus beams to help limit unnecessary exposure to areas outside of the target. A population-based study with a large sample size will help to provide a better estimate of the current association. Patients who have undergone broad radiation treatments in the past should take care to watch for symptoms (see Symptoms section) and monitor themselves for meningiomas. Evidence for meningiomas caused by radiation exposure may be multiple and are generally more aggressive.