While most are celebrating the new blooms of Spring, my aunt is stocking up on antihistamines for another season of itchy eyes and sneezing. According to University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers, that might not be a bad thing, as allergies and asthma seem to offer protection from the development of brain tumors.

"It appears that allergies and asthma rev up the immune system," said Michael Scheurer, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in M.D. Anderson's department of epidemiology. "They seem to produce enough inflammation in the brain to keep immune system cells active and working to prevent cancer from beginning to develop." Before I call my aunt to give her the good news though, researchers also said that antihistamine use might increase the chances of brain tumor development by taking away the protection offered by allergies. They are not absolutely sure of this fact -- no one is certain of the reasons leading to brain cancer.

The researchers are now looking to discover a gene susceptibility to developing brain tumors, and if they can find one, people who have the gene that indicates a higher risk of developing a brain tumor could be warned about using antihistamines. I am guessing even if my aunt had the faulty gene, she would still use antihistamines for allergy relief. Unless you are an allergy sufferer, or watch someone who is suffering the misery of allergies, you might not fully understand why someone would throw caution to the wind and take a calculated risk, if there is one. In the case of asthma, not being able to breath seems riskier than the vague possibility of a brain tumor.