5 Signs of Stress That Can Cause Brain Tumors

Anxiety and stress are part of our lives. It is not necessarily bad all the time. Stress cannot directly cause brain tumors. However, too much stress and anxiety can impact your health and can trigger brain tumors. A brain tumor increases the risk of brain cancer, which is fatal. To stay healthy, we must know how stress can cause brain tumors. Then we can take steps towards healthy living and manage our stress in daily life.

Importance of World Brain Tumor Day

A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of brain cells. There are various types of brain tumors. People often confuse early brain tumor symptoms with migraine or with other diseases. As a result, brain tumor causes the death of thousands of men and women every year. According to estimation 24, 810 adults in the US will be diagnosed with brain cancer and central nervous system tumors in 2023. 

The situation indicates a necessary awareness to manage brain tumors that leads to brain cancer. To spread awareness, Brain Tumor Day has been observed since the year 2000. Every year on 8th June World Brain Tumor Day is celebrated to tribute all brain tumor patients and their families. 

World Brain Tumor Day Theme 2023

Unlike each year, this year World Brain Tumor Day has a theme too. The theme for 2023 is “Protect yourself- keep away from stress." The theme emphasizes the need for stress management that can cause brain tumors. According to some studies, stress triggers some stimuli that develop the risk of growing tumors and lead to cancer.

To live a healthy life, we need to know which sign of stress impacts our health and activates the brain tumor cells.

5 Signs of Stress That Can Cause Brain Tumors

Feeling stressed or anxious sometimes is completely fine. Stress signals your upcoming risks to help you avoid the situations sometimes. However, in case of long periods of stress, you must consult with your doctor.

Stress and anxiety cause pessimistic thoughts in our minds. And pessimistic thoughts trigger the release of stress hormones that restrain cancer cell-killing ability. Some recent studies have shown that our psychological factors can promote tumor development through genetic changes. These changes can change the expression of genes without changing DNA sequence and are also called Epigenetic changes.

Studies suggest that long-term stress develops resistance in the immune system and promotes the occurrence of brain tumors. Stressful time is difficult to live healthily. It affects our minds, diet, and physical activities too. 

1. Imbalanced Diet:

Being stressed, one will feel fatigued. In this situation, you may intake high-energy food. Or on the other hand, you may starve. Both states indicate an imbalance in your diet. An imbalanced diet is associated with increased oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and changes in many hormones that play a key role in the pathogenesis of many cancers including brain cancers.

Hence, one must have a healthy diet to reduce the brain tumor risk. Intake of a plant-based and a limited animal-based diet helps you for a long and healthy life. 

2. Smoking:

Anxious people often smoke more than others. Nicotine present in tobacco provides an immediate sense of relaxation. Therefore, people think they are getting relieved from their stress. However, it is not a solution. Smoking for a long time reduces the ability to kill cancerous cells. These cancerous cells enter our bloodstream through the lungs and can develop brain tumors by localizing there. Also, smoking causes Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Therefore, we must know how smoking due to stress can harm us. We can also become aware of some known people and take steps to reduce stress to prevent brain tumors. 

3. Alcohol Consumption:

Being stressed, one may drink more alcohol. Alcohol helps slow down processes of the brain and nervous system. Hence, people think they weed out their anxiety, depression, or stress. However, our body converts alcohol to acetaldehyde. This acetaldehyde stops repairing our cells. Also, it changes hormone functions which can affect metabolism. As a result, it increases the chances of brain tumors.

Must remember that any alcoholic drink can cause damage because of alcohol. If one gains addiction to alcohol, then one must consult a psychiatrist or an expert doctor to relieve stress. Hence reduce the risk of brain tumors.

4. Low Physical Activity:

Stress or anxiety lowers your energy. Hence, one will not feel energized and not be willing in any physical activities. This situation leads to growing toxins in the body. Also, it lowers metabolism and immunity and increases the risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and several hormonal changes. All these factors can cause brain tumors.

On the other hand, physical exercise or activities help release endorphins. Endorphins are one of the brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters.

5. Insomnia and Brain Tumors:

Good sleep improves brain function, mood, and overall health. Every one of us needs 6-8 hours of good sleep to live a healthy life. However, stressful people often struggle with sleeplessness or insomnia. Sleep disorders impact the function of two hormones. One is cortisol and another is melatonin. Cortisol hormone is associated with alertness. People with insomnia have high cortisol levels and low melatonin. These disorders may lower immunity and the ability to fight cancer.

Hence, insomnia due to stress does not directly cause brain tumors. But it disrupts the fighting ability of the cells. 

Conclusion

We must know how to manage our stress levels to live healthy life. Meditation, Yoga, and Physical activity like running and swimming, help boost your fighting ability and keep you fit.

One must consult with a doctor if they feel long-term stress or depression. Social support may also help reduce stress. Hence, it can reduce the risk of brain tumors.