Higher education has been connected to a greater risk of developing brain tumors, according to a study of more than 4.3 million Swedes. The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
According to a report from EurekaAlert, men who had at least three years of university level education were found to have a 19% increased risk of developing a glioma compared to men who had no succeeding education beyond the compulsory nine years of education. A glioma was said to be a cancerous tumor found in brain cells surrounding and supporting neurons.
Meanwhile, the same report said that in women who had higher education, there was 23 percent higher risk for glioma. These women also faced 16 percent higher risk for meningioma, said to be a non-cancerous tumor in the tissues that surround the brain and spinal cord.
The Downside Of A College Education: Higher Learning Associated With Increased Risk Of Glioma Brain Tumor https://t.co/PQNZg8VDhA #health
— Medi-Science Daily (@mdsdaily) June 20, 2016
Reasons Behind Increased Risk Not Clear
"One possible explanation is that highly educated people may be more aware of symptoms and seek medical care earlier," said co-author Amal Khanolkar, as per Live Science. Khanolkar is a research associate at the Institute of Child Health at the University College London.
The subjects of the study were monitored by the researchers from 1993 to 2010. Among the millions of Swedish men and women studied, 5,735 of the men and 7,101 of the women reportedly developed brain tumors.
Occupation Also A Factor In Brain Tumor Risk
Medical Daily reported that the researchers found that occupation influenced the risk for brain tumor. Among the Swedish men that were part of the study, those in professional and managerial roles were said to have a 20 percent increased risk of having gliomas compared to men that had manual jobs.
For women working in professional and managerial jobs, the risk for glioma was said to be greater by 26 percent as opposed to women who were doing manual jobs. Just as with the link between having higher education and increased brain tumor risk, there was no clear explanation for the connection of brain tumor risk and occupation.
