ANA Discussion Forum
Treatment Options => Radiation / Radiosurgery => Topic started by: Elliott on August 11, 2014, 03:51:08 pm
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Hello all
Now that I have this growth in my head I am thinking more about the environment I am living in.
In our country, New Zealand, there has been a lot of speculation about the connection between the modern electronic society we live in and brain tumours. Cellphones and wi-fi in particular. Personally, I rarely use a cell phone without hands free. But both my home and work place have wi-fi. Is this a concern???
I don't believe it was the cause of my tumour as I only sparingly used cell phones and had only just recently got wifi at home before the tumour was diagnosed, and only got wifi at work a few months ago.
If I was to speculate on a cause I would say stress. The 3 years leading up to my diagnosis was the most stressful time of my life. I am not entirely sure what depression feels like - but I must have been close (All good now though!). Wondering if many others out there had real stressful events occur in their lives in the years leading up to their diagnosis??
Elliott
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Hi Elliott .....
There is a great deal of research going on related to the cause of acoustic neuromas. According to the presenters at the last ANA Symposium a year ago, to date, the research shows no direct correlation between cell phone use and I would have to presume wi-fi, as well ..... since it is even farther removed from ones head.
So far, the only known cause for acoustic neuromas is large quantities of ionizing radiation. BUT, there are many, many ANs that have formed with no known cause so that leaves open many other possibilities or just random growths.
That being said, it would serve us all well to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible, e.g. reduce stress, get plenty of sleep, eat good quality natural/organic foods, etc. However, we do not live in a "bubble" so many environmental factors are out of our control.
Just remember none of us on this forum are researchers or trained medical professionals, so we are sharing our collective personal research.
Best wishes. Clarice
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Hi Elliott, My tumor started affecting my hearing before I started school, there weren't any cellphones, no wifi and don't think I had any stress then. Hopefully one day they figure out what causes them. Jill :)
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Hi Elliott-I can definitely confirm that I had major stress n the 2 years before Dx. I wouldn't rule it out.
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I can't say that I had any more stress than usual prior to my diagnosis, but I can tell you that learning to manage my stress levels helped immensely with my symptoms once I had been diagnosed pre and post treatment. Finally learning to manage my stress level was one of the positive outcomes of finding out I had an AN. It certainly helped put things in perspective.
Cathie.