When is World Brain Tumor Day?
World Brain Tumor Day is June 8th.
What is World Brain Tumor Day?
The cells in your body are dying. That’s normal. What’s unusual is for cells to refuse to die, to reproduce after the body stops needing them. This can create a tumor, and World Brain Tumor Day raises awareness about these growths when they appear in the brain.
The human body is a strange world of birth and death, even while we’re alive. Our cells usually reproduce and then die. In the case of a tumor though, the cells might not die. They might grow and multiply even after the body has stopped needing them. Or, they might grow in a strange way. That growing collection of cells is a tumor.
If it’s in your brain, a tumor can become disruptive, to say the least. Headaches, nausea, and fatigue may not sound too bad, but what about seizures? What about personality changes and memory problems? Even a benign brain tumor—one that isn’t cancerous—can become debilitating.
We usually don’t know what causes brain tumors. We do know treatment works better when doctors catch it early. So, World Brain Tumor Day gets the word out to increase research funding and public awareness of the signs and dangers of brain tumors.
Fun facts about World Brain Tumor Day!
- Skin cells live for two or three weeks before they die, but brain cells often last your entire lifetime.
- The body does not replace dead neurons in your cerebral cortex.
- It’s uncommon to get cancer in the brain first. Brain cancer usually appears when cancer metastasizes, when it spreads from another part of the body up to the brain.
- Tumors in children and adults are different and get different treatments.
- The German Brain Tumor Association created World Brain Tumor Day in 2008.
How to celebrate World Brain Tumor Day:
- Research the symptoms and known risk factors of brain tumors.
- Donate to the ongoing investigation into the causes and treatment of brain tumors.
What’s the hashtag for World Brain Tumor Day?
Use #WorldBrainTumorDay on social media to spread the word.