1 day Ago By Ashima Sharda Mahindra
At least six nurses from a Harvard-linked hospital have been diagnosed with brain tumours in what could be a first-ever reported cluster of the deadly disease. According to news reports, the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts has said all of them working on the maternity floor have been diagnosed with non-cancerous brain tumours. All the employees have been employed on the same floor for varying durations and have been struck with the tumours in the past several years.
Hospital officials have reported that they did not find any environmental risk to patients or staff since starting the investigation in December last year. However, the nurses association slammed the testing as 'not comprehensive.'Even though it is not clear what types of brain tumours the workers have or when they were diagnosed, many point towards contaminants in water and older buildings that have been blamed for past clusters.
According to the Daily Mail, nurses working on the floor where the diagnosis was done have estimated around ten other staff members have developed cancerous and non-cancerous brain tumours. Related News | Find And Fight Cancer: Experts Weigh In On What Liquid Biopsies Can Detect, Its Emerging Uses, Limitations and MOREReal Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Teddi Mellencamp Diagnosed With Stage 4 Cancer After Her Melanoma SpreadsWhat increases the risk of cancer? According to an investigation being done by a group of experts, a review of air and water quality and testing for potential radiation, chemical, or pharmaceutical exposures is being done. All of these exposures can increase the risk of brain tumours as they damage DNA cells and trigger inflammation—both of which cause cells to multiply and become cancerous.
Stanford Healthcare says while there is no single or exact cause of most brain cancers - also known as primary brain tumours—there are many lifestyle factors that can heighten your risk of developing them. These include age, genetic predispositions, exposure to radiation, and, potentially, certain infections or workplace exposures. Related News | Real-Life Cancer Story: Woman With Incurable Breast Cancer Warns Against THIS Lifestyle Habit That Caused ItBrain tumours can happen when cells in or near the brain get changes in their DNA.
A cell's DNA holds the instructions that tell the cell what to do. The changes tell the cells to grow quickly and continue living when healthy cells die as part of their natural life cycle. This makes a lot of extra cells in the brain.
Brain tumours can be Brain tumours can be malignant or cancerous or benign (noncancerous). Experts say some tumours also grow quickly, while others grow slowly. How do brain tumours affect you? According to doctors, only about one-third of brain tumours are found to be cancerous, but whether they are cancerous or not, brain tumours can impact brain function and your health if they grow large enough to press on surrounding nerves, blood vessels, and tissue.
They can lead to issues likeWeakness Difficulty walking Balance issuesPartial or complete loss of vision Difficulty understanding or using language Memory issuesFluid builds up in your brainBlocking the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid through the spaces within your brain, causing those spaces to enlargeCausing brain bleeding.
