• Question: what causes a brain tumer?

    Asked by chloemoulden to Daz on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Darren Braddick

      Darren Braddick answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hi Chloemoulden

      Brain tumours are a form of cancer which affects the brain tissue, which is the stuff which builds the organ of the brain. They can be caused by a huge variety of reasons. I am sure that many of this reasons are not yet understood by science,

      The main reasons that we are aware of, are genetics, and radiation. People can be born with genetic factors which mean they have a higher risk of getting tumours, and the risk of getting them also tends to increase with age. This increase with age is true for most cancers though, and is a symptom really of our lives becoming longer with time. People these days live much longer than before, and our bodies have not yet fully adapted to this. Cancers arise when cells of the body lose focus of their job and kinda become independent, and grow their own way, and not the way the body needs.

      Another important cause of brain tumours is exposure to radioactivity. Usually this is fairly rare – for example from nuclear accidents like Chernobyl (a power plant in Ukraine which blew up in 1986) or the Japanese Fukushima plant (damaged after the awful earthquakes a few months ago). There is some belief that use of mobile phones can increase the risk of tumours through some forms of radiation, but I don’t think this has ever been completely proven…

      I hope this answers your question,

      Daz

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