Allergies that produce certain antibodies may protect your brain from cancer

Few things can ruin a day like a bout of hay fever.

Stuffed up, sneezing, headachy… Sound familiar? If so, there may actually be some good news.

When your body detects allergens, it produces IgE antibodies.

In new research, allergy patients with high blood levels of IgE were less likely to develop glioma brain tumors. And these are very deadly tumors.

Nice. But there’s a catch…

Patients with the highest IgE levels didn’t have glioma protection. Only a moderate antibody response was beneficial. And, of course, we have no way of controlling our response.

For researchers, this result offers a key to future treatment of glioma.

Unfortunately, it won’t help with your sniffling and runny eyes. But it could help with something much more important.

Sources:
“Allergies may help in fighting brain tumors” Brown University press release, 10/17/11, news.brown.edu