How Stress Affects Cancer

The term cancer is used to describe not a single disease, but many diseases in which cancer cells begin to grow and then spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymphatic system. One of the main characteristics of cancer cells is that they’re immortal. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell becomes damaged or changed as a result of chemicals, X-rays, UV rays, or other factors, and produces mutations that affect normal cell growth. When this happens, cells don’t die when they should, and new cells form when the body doesn’t need them. The extra cells form a mass of tissue called a tumor.

According to famed German cancer surgeon Dr. Ryke-Geerd Hamer, who has examined thousands of cancer patients over the past few decades, there is a chain of events that causes tumors to grow and spread to surrounding tissue. The stages are:

Stage 1: There is some kind of stressful life event that occurs a few years prior to the onset of cancer. During this stage, cells in the brain begin to break down, which leads to depressed immune function.

Stage 2: Continued depression of the immune system, usually due to cortisol fluctuations, causes increased infections and susceptibility to pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

Stage 3: Since cortisol raises blood sugar levels, the excess sugar enters the cells and leaves less room for oxygen. This is the reason why Dr. Hamer believes so many cancer patients become weak and lethargic.

Stage 4: Pathogenic microbes like bacteria, viruses, and fungi infect healthy cells and feed on high glucose levels. As a result, “mycotoxins” are released, which interfere with cellular respiration and create an acidic environment. The lack of oxygen and low energy production triggers cell mutation that leads to cancer growth. Since cancer cells thrive in a low pH environment, tumors begin to grow more rapidly.

Stage 5: Newly formed cancer cells form a symbiotic relationship with pathogens, which continue to release the mycotoxins that further interfere with cell respiration.

Stage 6: Elevated stress hormones depress immunity and stimulate tumor growth.

Patients who don’t reduce stress hormone levels continue the cycle that leads to secondary tumors and a rapid deterioration of body functions. Treatments for various cancers include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or newer procedures like gene therapy and angiogenesis inhibitors. During the past few decades, studies have found that the effectiveness of any of these therapies is enhanced when patients include stress management and other techniques like visualization as part of their overall recovery routine. That's because hormones released during stress reactions not only help cancer cells travel through the bloodstream and spread to other tissues but they help keep those cancerous cells alive and growing by supplying them with vital nutrients. So, simply adding stress management to the mix stimulates the immune system and significantly improves the healing process.

In the next decade, more than 500,000 people will die from some form of cancer each year, and nearly 2 million new cases will be diagnosed annually. That number may be far greater than we realize since we don’t know how many of us will actually develop cancer and then eliminate it from our system without even knowing it. A normal healthy cell suddenly mutates to become a tumor and is immediately attacked by specialized white blood cells whose sole mission is to seek out and destroy the cancer. As one immunologist once told me, “If the fight is between a cancer cell and a healthy immune system, the immune system usually wins.” The problem in many cancer cases is that the immune system is not able to keep up, in which event the cancer wins out.

With some exceptions, like breast and colon cancer, few cancers are inherited. Some are the result of defective genes or the environment. The majority, however, are the result of toxins, additives, diets high in saturated fat, industrial and household chemicals, radiation exposure, alcohol, and tobacco. Unfortunately, since the EPA does not test for combinations of chemicals, we really don’t know what the effect of exposure to two or more chemicals is on cancer risk compared to a single chemical exposure. Research done over the last decade has shown that most people would cut their risk significantly if they adhered to seven rules:

1. Don’t use tobacco products, including chewing tobacco

2. Limit sun exposure, especially if you’re light-skinned

3. Avoid food additives and environmental chemicals

4. Maintain a low saturated fat, high fiber diet

5. Limit alcohol consumption

6. Limit sugar intake

7. Watch your weight

The one significant risk factor left off the researchers’ list is how a person views life events and responds to stress. Human experiments have shown that stress affects key pathogenic processes in cancer such as antiviral defenses, DNA repair, and cellular aging. Conversely, study after study has proven that individuals able to cope with stress are less likely to get cancer. And results from clinical trials have shown that patients who use a variety of stress management techniques and mind-body medicine are much more likely to recover from cancer. Meditation and visualization exercises, for example, improve the quality of life and can actually enhance the effects of conventional treatment. When chemotherapy or radiation damages white blood cells, along with the cancer cells, the immune system is weakened, which can lead to infection and other diseases. This added stress only fuels the problem and makes stress management and positive reinforcement even more important.

Beating cancer is never easy. Avoiding the seven risk factors that trigger most cancers is; and simply following rules number one and five is a surefire way to eliminate some of the worst types of cancer such as lung, esophageal, throat, liver, pancreatic, and upper digestive tract. New research has also found that obesity is linked to a dozen types of cancers, including colon, kidney, esophagus, and thyroid, among others. For cancer cells that spring up suddenly without a known cause, maintaining a healthy immune system is the best way to make sure that they are detected, attacked, and eliminated. If researchers have learned anything, it’s that even a disease like cancer is much more easily overcome when we use the mind-body connection to help fight it.

Are You Cancer-Prone?

More than twenty years ago, an article published by the American Cancer Society asked the question, is there a cancer-prone personality? At the time, results were inconclusive and researchers needed much more information before they could put the debate to rest. Since then, studies have shown that there may indeed be a link between behavior and personality and the onset of and recovery from cancer. We know that emotions such as depression, anger, and hostility make us more prone to illness and disease; and it’s been shown that positive attitudes such as hope, optimism, and happiness strengthen our immune system and protect us from disease.

We’ve all heard about people who had cancer and simply gave up. And I’m sure we’ve also known people who had positive attitudes about beating cancer and survived. The difference between losing the battle and beating cancer is often a matter of boosting immunity long enough to allow the body’s defenses to do their job. Recent studies point to two personality types that make us either cancer prone or cancer resistant.

Cancer-prone personality types

• represses both positive and negative emotions

• shows anger, resentment, or hostility toward others

• takes on extra duties and responsibilities, even when they cause stress (some stress can actually be positive)

• reacts adversely to and does not cope well with life changes

• is negative or pessimistic

• becomes easily depressed or has feelings of hopelessness

• has few friends or social networks

• worries often and excessively about others

• feels the need for approval and to please others

Cancer-resistant personality types

• expresses emotions in a positive and constructive way

• controls anger, but resolves anger issues positively

• knows when to say no

• copes well with stress and feels in control of situations

• is optimistic and hopeful

• does not become easily depressed

• seeks out and maintains social support networks

• does not worry excessively

• likes to please, but does not seek approval as an emotional crutch

As with everything else, there are always exceptions. The most optimistic and positive among us will get cancer; and the angriest and most hostile will live to be a hundred. The difference may simply be genetics, but in many cases where patients recover successfully, the key ingredient is a willingness to adopt cancer-resistant personality behaviors and traits. And when a cancer patient is told that his or her disease is terminal, those who adopt cancer-resistant traits tend to live longer because their newly acquired behaviors will automatically boost immunity.

Mind-body medicine, which includes techniques such as meditation, autosuggestion, visualization, and relaxation exercises, can have a positive effect on cancer treatment. A patient’s coping style and recovery strategy will often determine 5-year survival rates. For example, mortality is typically reduced for those who have a social support network compared with those who are socially isolated. Patients that establish a recovery program, which includes stress management and relaxation techniques, have fewer relapses. We also know that married men do better, and that women do better when they have women friends they can talk to and interact with.

A group of researchers at Stanford University found that patients with metastatic breast cancer had a higher quality of life, less pain, and lived at least two years longer if they belonged to a support group, even if they were anxious and depressed about their disease. Their results showed that social support acts as a stress buffer. The patients with cortisol fluctuations had shorter survival times and poorer quality of life, while those who had good family ties and ongoing social support networks had lower cortisol levels and longer survival rates.

There’s a lesson to be learned from all this mounting evidence. By strengthening and conditioning the “mind” part of the mind-body connection, we can extend life and often recover completely. And by using alternative mind-body techniques in addition to traditional medicine, we’ll be doing everything we can to help our body spring into action and do what it needs to do.

From: Stress, Disease & the Mind-Body Connection: Using the Power of the Brain for Health and Self-Healing by Dr. Andrew Goliszek