VIDEO: How Does Stress Affect Cancer?

When speaking to patients about the time preceding their cancer diagnosis, many stated they had intense prolonged periods of mental or emotional stress. Now health experts are certainly in agreement: the effects of uncontrolled stress can certainly be deadly! For cutting edge information on natural and holistic treatments on a wide variety of health care topics and receive my newsletters, visit https://healthrevelations.com‍

Hi I'm Dr. Mark Stengler. And in this video I want to talk about how does stress affect cancer. Now when speaking to patients about the time preceding their cancer diagnosis. Many state they had intense prolonged periods of mental or emotional stress. Now health experts are certainly in agreement. The effects of uncontrolled stress can certainly be deadly. According to Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Professor of General Oncology and Behavioral Science and Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M. D. Anderson. He states, "Stress has a profound impact on how your body's system function. . . stress makes your body more hospitable to cancer. "Many studies have been demonstrating this connection. For example, the results of 165 studies indicate that stress related psychosocial factors are associated with higher cancer incidence in initially healthy populations. As well, there was poor survival in patients diagnosed with cancer in 330 studies and higher cancer mortality was seen in 53 studies. In general, our bodies adapt well to short term stress. However, chronic levels of high stress causes the brain to release hormonal messengers that stimulate our adrenal glands which are master stress glands to to release hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine known as adrenaline. So long term exposure of our cells to these stress hormones causes the following;. Stress hormones increase the production of free-radicals which leads to DNA damage and impaired immune function. Stress hormones increase inflammation through the production of inflammatory proteins known as cytokines which also impair immune function and promote cancer growth. Stress hormones directly impair immune cell function. As well, stress hormones reduce the ability of abnormal cells to undergo cell death and DNA repair. These are important self-regulating anticancer mechanisms. Stress hormones also stimulate the production of insulin like growth factor-1, vascular endothelial growth factor and other growth factors that can promote tumor cell growth. As you can see if your loved one is battling with cancer or you have a history of cancer it's imperative to incorporate a stress reduction program as best you can. For example exercise. A review of the effect of lifestyle factors on breast cancer mortality found that physical activity has the most pronounced effect of all the lifestyle factors on reducing breast cancer recurrence. Physical activity can reduce breast cancer mortality by about 40 percent. Other great stress fighters include prayer, humor and laughter, and getting professional counseling. For cutting edge information on natural and holistic treatments on a wide variety of health care topics and to get my newsletters visit healthrevelations. com. If you want information on my private clinic and go to MarkStengler.com

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