Health Advice

Is Stress a Risk Factor for Cancer?

By Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D.

Posted: February 19, 2009

Evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that chronic depression and/or a paucity of supportive personal relationships may be risk factors for the development and progression of some kinds of cancer. For example, one study of women with ovarian cancer suggests that stress and low social support may be related to certain growth factors in the tumor microenvironment—the place where cancer cells interact with surrounding cells. In some new studies from Eric Yang and Ron Glaser and others, melanoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and multiple myeloma tumor cells have receptors for the stress hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine, and when cancer cells are exposed to these stress hormones in the laboratory, the cancer cells produce factors that favor the spread of the tumor cells; if this happens in the body, it could increase the risk for metastases.

More broadly, chronic severe stress can disrupt sleep and appetite, effectively pushing the production of stress hormones that fuel long-term or persistent inflammation—and inflammation may promote certain kinds of tumor cells to proliferate. It's important to emphasize that this doesn't mean that stress causes cancer. But stress is bad for your body in many ways, and some kinds of physiological stress responses like heightened inflammation or overproduction of some stress hormones may actually be good for certain kinds of cancers.

 

Health Advice Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is for the general information of the reader and to help patients become better informed to consult with their own physician. It does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship, and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information on this website for diagnosing or treating… Read more >>

The Importance of ph Balance and Cancer

The Importance of ph Balance and Cancer

According to a current stream of research, the natural pH in the human body fluctuates, over a 24 hour period, between alkalosis and acidosis. If this oscillation did not occur, it would be impossible for the various biochemical processes in the body to take place and metabolism would grind to a halt. This ebb and flow in our pH is precisely what drives the engine of biological life. These are only small fluctuations around the point of equilibrium, but they are sufficient to create biochemical motion. Although it is generally accepted that pH is the inverse logarithm of the concentration of hydrogen ions, the concepts of this almost mathematical definition are virtually impossible to understand. What it really means is that pH tells us the quantity of hydrogen ions in a solution, and more specifically, for what concerns us here, in the human body. Hydrogen ions have a positive electric charge and there is a constant state of equilibrium between these and other hydroxide ions which have a negative charge. The result of this interplay is that the quantities of both in a solution will always remain constant (ionic result), because if one rises then the other must inevitably fall. When the number of hydrogen ions rises, the positive electrical charge will rise and the negative charge, in the form of OH or hydroxide ions, will fall. In such a case we say that we are in a state of acidosis, and in the opposite case, when the negative charges predominate, we would be in alkalosis. As we can easily deduce, the oscillation of these electrical charges creates an electromagnetic field, and this is the first moment in scientific medicine that such fields are mentioned. It is therefore (c’est pas pour rien que) that in physics, a magnetic field is defined as that place in space where electromagnetic forces occur and since Maxwell, the concepts of electrical charge and electromagnetic charge have been intertwined. So when we speak of pH, we are also speaking of electromagnetic fields. Every living biological system, be it an ant, a plant, or a bacterium, even a single cell, is therefore an electromagnetic field fluctuating between positive and negative charges, and owes its life to this motion. This motion can only be explained by the living organisms’ drive to escape a state of charge, be it negative or positive, to find repose, or in other words, electro-neutrality, but absence of charge would mean the end of biochemical motion, which would be the same as death. If we call that fruitless drive ‘life’ and the absence of that compulsion, ‘death’, then we could conclude that all organisms seek death. Following along these lines, we could define ‘life’ as the eternal quest for electro-neutrality or ‘death’. As it happens, the precise point of equilibrium is never found, so the organism ends up moving continuously from one state of charge to its opposite. In other words, it is like a scale of unbalanced equilibrium in wh

luis of CA @ Sep 20, 2009 05:28:37 AM

mothers death

After reading your article I believe my question may have been answered but I am curious to know if stress can accelerate the spread of cancer. My mom was under a great amount of stress and was sleep deprived also. My mother actually found out she had cancer after going to her family doctor with flu like symptoms. It was later discovered that she had a tumor in her stomach that had spread to her brain and her spinal cord. Less than two months later she was dead. I had put a great deal of stress on my mom in last few years of her life and am convinced that the cancer spread more rapidly because of this. If you could answer my question I would appreciate it.

Brian Gregg of AL @ May 16, 2009 12:28:20 PM

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