Can the time of year you were born affect your chances of developing brain cancer?
Possibly, report Duke University researchers, who studied four different groups of medical records from various regions of the country and found that children born in late summer and fall were more likely to develop an aggressively malignant brain tumour called medulloblastoma.
"Medulloblastoma is more common in kids with autumn birthdates, even after correcting for the higher frequency of fall birthdays," said the study's lead author, Dr Edward Halperin, vice dean of the school of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C. Pesticides a prime suspect
Halperin and his colleagues suspect that something these children were exposed to in the womb during a period of crucial brain development may have contributed to their cancer. Pesticides are a prime suspect, he said, since they are commonly sprayed during the springtime.
Possibly, report Duke University researchers, who studied four different groups of medical records from various regions of the country and found that children born in late summer and fall were more likely to develop an aggressively malignant brain tumour called medulloblastoma.
"Medulloblastoma is more common in kids with autumn birthdates, even after correcting for the higher frequency of fall birthdays," said the study's lead author, Dr Edward Halperin, vice dean of the school of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C. Pesticides a prime suspect
Halperin and his colleagues suspect that something these children were exposed to in the womb during a period of crucial brain development may have contributed to their cancer. Pesticides are a prime suspect, he said, since they are commonly sprayed during the springtime.
