When Rosa Parkin came into our Facebook Group on September 27, 2014 she was bedridden with a 8cm tumor in her uterus and with new found Hope and excitement within a few days that tumor shrank and she was out and about walking again. However, on Memorial Day Weekend 2015.
When we finally met I could tell the stress of having cancer was catching up with her. It’s with great sadness, we learnt of Rosa’s passing on Sept 6th 2015, at her home in Brighton U.K.
Preview People Come Into Your Life for a Reason
What I learned from my time with Rosa: The best way to combat sickness and boost your immune system is to look at finding ways to boosts through emotional healing, like happiness, as much as you should work with physical healing. Some pundits will not completely jump into the belief system that happiness is the key to better health. However, researchers from …
Stress fuels cancer spread by triggering master gene
Stress fuels cancer by triggering a ‘master switch’ gene which allows the disease to spread, according to new research.
The ‘unexpected’ discovery could lead to the development of drugs that target the protein and stop tumours spreading to other organs and causing death.
Stress has long been linked to many forms of the disease including breast and prostate cancer, but the reason has remained a mystery.
Stress and cancer metastasis
Now a team at Ohio State University say our own bodies help turn cancer against us by turning on a ‘master switch’ gene known as ATF3 which is expressed in response to stressful conditions in all types of cells.
Usually, it causes normal and benign cells to commit suicide if they decide they have been irrevocably damaged.
But cancer cells somehow coax immune-system cells recruited to the site of a tumor to express ATF3.
It is unclear exactly how, but the gene promotes the immune cells to act erratically and give cancer an escape route to other areas of the body.
Professor Tsonwin Hai said: ‘If your body does not help cancer cells, they cannot spread as far. So really, the rest of the cells in the body help cancer cells to move, to set up shop at distant sites. And one of the unifying themes here is stress.’
Her researchers first linked the expression of ATF3 in immune-system cells to worse outcomes among a sample of almost 300 breast cancer patients.
Experiments on mice then found those lacking the gene had less extensive spread of breast tumour cells to their lungs than ones that could activate it.
‘The cancer cells were always the same, but we had different hosts. The primary tumors were similar in size, but only in the host that can express ATF3 – the stress gene – did the cancer cells metastasize efficiently.
‘This suggests that the host stress response can help cancer to metastasize.
‘If the body is in perfect balance, there isn’t much of a problem. When the body gets stressed, that changes the immune system. And the immune system is a double-edged sword,’ she said.
In general, when cancer cells first appear, the immune system recognises them as foreign and various immune cells travel to the site to attack them.
Prof Hai said if further research bear out the results ‘the stress gene could one day function as a drug target to combat cancer spread, or metastasis as it is known medically.’
Meanwhile, the results published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation provide important insights into how tumor cells use their signaling power to co-opt the rest of the body into aiding cancer’s survival and movement to distant organs.
Although the work suggests a drug to dampen ATF3’s effect could lower the risk for metastasis, Prof Hai noted scientists do not fully understand what the overall effects would be.
How stress affects cancer risk
Stress is a part of life. You feel it when you’re preparing for the holidays, stuck in traffic or worrying about a friend’s health. While a little stress is nothing to fret about, the kind of intense worry that lingers for weeks or months may make it hard for you to stay healthy.
“Stress has a profound impact on how your body’s systems function,” says Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor of General Oncology and Behavioral Science, and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson. Health experts are still sorting out whether stress actually causes cancer. Yet there’s little doubt that it promotes the growth and spread of some forms of the disease. Put simply, “stress makes your body more hospitable to cancer,” Cohen says.
Not all stress is equally harmful
There are two different types of stress, and only one seems to be really bad for your health, says Anil K. Sood, M.D., professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at MD Anderson.
Short-term or acute stress, like the type you might feel before giving a speech or fighting holiday shopping crowds, tends to subside as soon as the event passes. “It’s stress that comes from situations you know you can manage or will be over at some set time,” Cohen says.
But long-term or chronic stress is more damaging. That type of stress springs from situations that last many weeks or months with no definite end point. “Caring for a sick loved one or dealing with a long stint of unemployment are common causes of chronic stress,” Cohen says.
This type of no-end-in-sight stress can weaken your immune system, leaving you prone to diseases like cancer. It also ups your risk for digestive problems and depression. “Chronic stress also can help cancer grow and spread in a number of ways,” Sood says.
Stress hormones can inhibit a process called anoikis, which kills diseased cells and prevents them from spreading, Sood says. Chronic stress also increases the production of certain growth factors that increase your blood supply. This can speed the development of cancerous tumors, he adds.
Find healthy ways to manage stress
What can you do about stress? Removing the cause is the clear answer. But that’s not always possible when it comes to the types of things that cause chronic stress, Cohen says.
Even if you can’t rid yourself of the source of your stress, you can learn to manage it. This can help you keep a lid on chronic stress. It also can help you prevent minor sources of stress from lingering to a point where they’re affecting your health. Below, Cohen shares stress-reducing strategies.
Talk to a professional
A psychiatrist or psychologist can teach you healthy ways to manage your stress.
Strategies may include talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). These can help your brain uncover the connections between your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. “CBT can provide you with mental tools to manage the types of worry and anxiety that screw up your immune system and increase your disease risks,” Cohen says.
Practice meditation or yoga
Mindfulness meditation and yoga have been proven to combat stress. These movement-based activities give your mind a break from stress. They also can improve your mood and quality of life.
Aim for at least two 20-minute periods a day of meditation or similar relaxation techniques, Cohen says. That time shouldn’t include stimulating activities like watching television. “Sit quietly and try to keep your mind off any concerns. Think about visiting your favorite vacation spot or a quiet, safe place like your garden.”
Mediation and yoga also can help your brain soften the links between your thoughts, your emotions and unhealthy biological changes, he says. Put simply, these practices dampen your brain and body’s reactions to stressful events.
Get adequate sleep
“Getting eight hours of sleep each night is a great defense against stress,” Cohen says. Why? A full night of sleep is essential to proper immune function. It also affects your mood, memory and ability to focus, experts say. Sticking to a regular sleep schedule, avoiding TV in bed and exercising regularly can all help you sleep more soundly.
Take stress seriously
It’s important to understand the negative consequences of stress, especially when it comes to your cancer risks. “Chronic stress is not something anyone in our society should take lightly,” Cohen says.
If you feel crankier than usual, you don’t have the energy you once had or you’re sleeping poorly, all of those could be signs of stress, Cohen says. Take steps to fix your problem before it affects your health in more serious ways.
Request an appointment at MD Anderson’s Lyda Hill Cancer Prevention Center online or call 877-566-4379.
Psychological Stress and Cancer.
On This Page
- What is psychological stress?
- How does the body respond during stress?
- Can psychological stress cause cancer?
- How does psychological stress affect people who have cancer?
- How can people who have cancer learn to cope with psychological stress?
“We know a fair amount about how stress affects the cardiovascular and immune systems, namely by activating both, and in vulnerable people this leads to increased rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer,” Shear says. “Acute stress can also cause something called stress cardiomyopathy, which is an acute form of cardiac illness.”
One study found that the incidence of an acute heart attack increases 21-fold within 24 hours of the death of a loved one, before declining steadily with each subsequent day. In another study, British researchers found that older people who are grieving are more likely to have weakened immune systems and develop infections.
The emotional impact of grief is often described as “heartache” or “heartbreak,” but the release of stress hormones associated with grief can cause actual cardiac problems.
“We know a fair amount about how stress affects the cardiovascular and immune systems, namely by activating both, and in vulnerable people this also leads to increased rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer,” Shear says. “Acute stress can also cause something called stress cardiomyopathy, which is an acute form of cardiac illness.”
Coping and Treatment
While potential health consequences related to grieving are a serious concern, Shear stresses that grief itself should not be treated as an illness. “Grief is the natural response to loss and when we lose someone we love, the loss is permanent and impactful, and grief is also permanent,” she says. “No one really gets over an important loss. Grief counselors often talk about positive outcome as finding a ‘new normal.’ ”
Dr. Cacciatore stresses the importance of self-care. “A person needs to take good care of themselves and their grief,” she says. “Sometimes remembering things as simple as eating well and drinking water can improve a person’s quality of life. Even getting 20 minutes of sunshine outside can help.”
RELATED: Managing Grief After the Death of a Loved One
A grief specialist, whether it’s a psychologist or a counselor, can help a bereaved person cope with their emotional and physical symptoms. “It provides a safe place for people to be with their grief and to remember their dead without others pressuring them to be okay,” Cacciatore says.
One of the ways Whiston-Donaldson, 44, copes with her continuing grief is by writing about it on her blog. “My coping methods have been writing, letting myself feel my feelings, and connecting with others who are hurting,” she says.
Shear agrees that sharing and connecting with others is key to finding that new normal following a loss. “We do not grieve well alone,” she says. “Part of the natural adaptive process involves reconnecting with others.
I believe that stress can cause cancer in any case. And I absolutely sure that grief makes people more susceptible to all kinds of illness and I am pretty certain that is really what happens when a couple who have been together for 5 decades die only a short time apart, even when the surviving spouse is in exceptional health for the age. Grief puts intense pressure on a person causing their immune system to be compromised. They would then be more susceptible to disease of all kinds including cancer. Laurie Schlangen Traub, former Grief Counselor (1999-2016) Grief can take you with the one you’re grieving. Pepper McGowan, Writer and Collector of Concurrent Realities at Life on Earth (1975-present.)
