A recent study has found that those who study at university could have a higher chance of developing a brain tumour than those who don’t.
The research, conducted on 4.3 million Swedish people who were born between 1911 and 1961, revealed some staggering statistics relating to higher education.
Men were found to be 19% more likely to develop a glioma (a malignant tumour of the nervous system – get educated) if they attended university for three or more years, in comparison to those who left school after their studies.
For women, the research found that they were 23% more likely to develop a glioma and 16% more likely to have a meningioma, a benign slow growing tumour, when compared to those who had not attended university. But, there’s been no suggestion as to why this correlation occurred.
The study also found that those in professional and managerial roles were more at risk of developing tumours than those working in manual roles. Both managerial roles and university study are often associated with stress and working erratic hours, although this link is by no means exclusive.
As the study was observational, links between cause and effect cannot be confirmed. However, from such a vast data set, the outcomes are somewhat alarming.