National Gray Day

May 27th is National Gray Day where supports wear gray to advocate for brain cancer/tumor awareness.

National Gray Day, sometimes also known as Gray Day or National Day of Gray honors people who have fought and those who are currently fighting against any form of brain cancer.

History of National Gray Day

National Gray Day honors caregivers, remembers those who have passed away from brain cancer, honors survivors of the disease, and honors and inspires those who are battling it. National Gray Day occurs during National Brain Cancer Awareness Month, and it is so named because gray is the designated color for brain cancer.

National Gray Day begins with Mona Leingang. Her husband named Gary had died of brain cancer in 2010. Before he passed away, he told her to "make something good out of this." So she created "Grey Day" in 2013, put it on Gary's birthday, and pushed for it to be announced by the Louisiana Legislature. She hopes that this day will grow to be observed in all states, that will raise awareness about brain cancer, and that it will lead to fundraising for large-scale brain cancer research. Voices against Brain Cancer spoke out in their support at the time. It seems they continued to do so in the following years, and the date of the celebration was changed to May 27th.

Brain cancer lifts its ugly head when a malignant brain tumor. When cancer grows elsewhere in the body and then spreads to the brain, it is called brain metastasis. This is more common than brain cancer that starts in the brain, which is called primary brain cancer. Cancers that start in the brain usually do not spread outside, and the risk of getting this type of cancer is less than 1%, although the risk increases as people get older.

It is still not known exactly why brain cancer develops, but environmental factors and genetic conditions are thought to contribute to it. Examples of environmental factors are exposure to certain industrial chemicals or solvents and prior radiation treatment. Genetic conditions include a compromised immune system and some genetic conditions such as Hippel-Lindau disease, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and Neurofibromatosis. Brain cancer symptoms of which there are many types — vary depending on which part of the brain the cancer is located and which functional systems are affected. Cognitive impairment and problems with vision, speech, and coordination are common.

Brain cancer is diagnosed in many ways, such as by biopsy, lab tests, angiograms, bone scans, MRI scans, CT scans, and PET scans. There are also many different treatments, depending on the type of cancer and its severity, including surgery, neurosurgery, and craniotomy, and endoscopic, intraoperative neurosurgery surgery, electrophysiology in surgery, radiotherapy in surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy. On National Gray Day, we raise awareness about brain cancer; recognize those who have been affected by this disease and work to eliminate it.

How to celebrate National Gray Day

• Join a National Gray Day event being held near you. Moreover, you can organize an event by yourself.
• Share the day with others and recruit people in your community to political office or other positions of power to support the day.
• Show your option by changing your profile photo to a gray ribbon in the social media.
• Wear gray and encourage others to wear it too.
• Join Voices Against Brain Cancer. You can become a Volunteer, a Voice or a Sponsor.
• Be self-awareness about brain tumors and cancers as well as their symptoms.
• Follow an anti-cancer diet.