Cancer
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Anxiety, Mood Disorders Put Cancer Patients At Risk For PTSD
Breast cancer patients who have a prior history of mood and anxiety disorders are at a much higher risk of experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder following their diagnosis, new research suggests. A study of 74 breast cancer patients at the Ohio State University Medical Center found that 16 percent of them (12 women) suffered from PTSD 18 months after diagnosis.
Anxiety • Cancer • Depression • PTSD • Women • (0) Comments • Permalink
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Phone counseling improves quality of life, immune systems of cervical cancer survivors
A unique telephone-counseling intervention not only improved the quality of life for cervical cancer survivors but also altered associated stress-related effects on their immune systems, a UC Irvine study has found. Along with reporting psychological and social benefits, the women in the study were found to have improved anti-tumor immune responses. The findings point to the importance of a “mind-body” connection for surviving cancer with a higher quality of life.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs
Today, it is not possible to deliver high-quality cancer care without using existing approaches, tools, and resources to address patients’ psychosocial health needs. All patients with cancer and their families should expect and receive cancer care that ensures the provision of appropriate psychosocial health services. Cancer Care for the Whole Patient recommends actions that oncology providers, health policy makers, educators, health insurers, health planners, researchers and research sponsors, and consumer advocates should undertake to ensure that this standard is met.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Treating Wife’s Stress May Be Indirect Care For Men With Prostate Cancer
When a couple is dealing with cancer, a partner’s psychological distress might drag down the well-being of either person, according to a new study of 168 married couples.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Queen’s research links stress and breast cancer
Research findings from a Queen’s University study have for the first time uncovered a possible biological link between severe psychological stress and an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The study, led by biochemist Christopher Mueller, found that the stress hormone hydrocortisone may repress the activity of a tumour-suppressing gene known as BRCA1 that is related to breast cancer.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Stress and fear can affect cancer’s recurrence
After the surgical removal of a malignant tumor, the chance that cancer will re-appear in a different location of the body remains high. But new research from Tel Aviv University, in a bold new field called Psychoneuroimmunology, may prevent those cancer cells from taking root again — and the key to the treatment is stress reduction.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Intervention Program Boosts Health, Reduces Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients
Psychological interventions for cancer patients do more than just ease emotional distress – they directly improve health, new research suggests. A study of 227 breast cancer patients found that those who participated in a psychological intervention program were rated as having better health by a research nurse a full year after the program started.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Stress May Increase a Woman’s Risk of Developing Cervical Cancer
A woman’s daily stress can reduce her ability to fight off a common sexually transmitted disease and increase her risk of developing the cancer it can cause, according to a new study. No such association is seen, however, between past major life events, such as divorce or job loss, and the body’s response to the infection.
Cancer • Immune System • Stress • Women • (0) Comments • Permalink
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Researchers Say Stress and Disease Are Likely Linked
A new commentary in the Oct. 10 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association explores whether psychological stress leads to disease and concludes that the link is likely. The authors, who say consistent results across different kinds of studies suggest that stress plays a causal role in disease, looked at four diseases. “The evidence from studies of depression and heart disease is most convincing. The HIV/AIDS data are a little weaker. The evidence for stress playing a role in cancer isn’t all that good, even though there is supporting evidence from studies of animals,” said lead author Sheldon.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Got Stress? It May Impact Breast Cancer Recurrence
Women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who have also endured previous traumatic or stressful events see their cancer recur nearly twice as fast as other women, according to a report by a University of Rochester Medical Center scientist.
Cancer • PTSD • Stress • Women • (0) Comments • Permalink
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
St. Jude psychologist says most children with cancer are well-adjusted
Children under treatment for cancer are generally emotionally well-adjusted and no more depressed or anxious than other children their age, according to researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In studies of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress and quality of life, children with cancer do as well as, and often better than their healthy peers.
Cancer • Children • Depression • Mood • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Sunday, April 22, 2007
HeartMath’s emWave Personal Stress Reliever
Our emWave Personal Stress Reliever is on sale until the end of the April for $20.00 off. If you’re interested in realtime stress reduction and peak performance, please take a look at the two-minute demo.
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Stress may help cancer cells resist treatment, research shows
Scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to report that the stress hormone epinephrine causes changes in prostate and breast cancer cells that may make them resistant to cell death. “These data imply that emotional stress may contribute to the development of cancer and may also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments,” said George Kulik, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of cancer biology and senior researcher on the project.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Survey of Households Affected by Cancer
This USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey provides an in-depth examination of how families cope with cancer and highlights problems of health insurance and health care costs through the lens of those who have experienced this major illness. The survey shows the disease’s devastating impact often extends beyond an individual patient to affect entire families—sometimes causing financial crises, strained relationships, and physical and mental health issues for those who love and care for people diagnosed with cancer.
Article
USA Today is featuring the survey results in a series of articles available online: Cancer Care Often Uncoordinated, Cancer Hurts Caregivers, Too, Cancer Patients Keep on Working, The upside of cancer: A new outlook on life
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Stress Hormones May Play New Role In Speeding Up Cancer Growth
New research here suggests that hormones produced as during periods of stress may increase the growth rate of a particularly nasty kind of cancer. The study showed that an increase in norepinephrin, a stress hormone, can stimulate tumor cells to produce two compounds. These compounds can break down of the tissue around the tumor cells and allow the cells to more easily move into the bloodstream. From there, they can travel to another location in the body to form additional tumors, a process called metastasis. The research also suggests the same hormone can also stimulate the tumor cells to release another compound that can aid in the growth of new blood vessels that feed cancer cells, hastening the growth and spread of the disease. The work was reported in the latest issue of the journal Cancer Research.