All About Cancer and Stress Cancer As Physiological Effect of Stress
Is there a link between cancer and stress? How does it cause tumors? According to experts the link between stress and cancer is not as definite as tobacco use. But they believe that different types of tumor are significant physiological side effects of stress. It also has these other effects on the body -- higher level of hormones and an unhealthy lifestyle.
If you understand what is stress and its effects on your body, you will see how learning to manage it is an effective step on cancer prevention.
Stress is not always your enemy. It is your body's natural means of defense and protection.
So, you may ask...how can stress negatively affect your overall health? How can it become so harmful that it causes tumors to grow?
Remember that you make cancer cells everyday but your immune system is there to prevent them from attacking your healthy cells. This is if you got a healthy immune system.
How are stress and cancer connected?
Stress has...
1) Significant Effect On Immune System
No less than the National Cancer Institute reports, “Studies have shown that factors, such as death of a spouse, social isolation, and medical school examinations, alter the way the immune system functions."
Genetic mutations occur inside your cells everyday as you are exposed to many tumor-causing agents in the environment.
Normally, the DNA is able to repair any damage but there are times when it is unable to.
Your body's immune system has the ability to take over and take care of these abnormal cells before they become a cancer. And stress can inhibit or disable this function.
A weak immune system is one of the negative physiological effects of stress. A poor immune system is a breeding ground for many of the leading types of cancer and stress overload leads to another danger which is...
2) Higher Level of Stress Hormones
When you are experiencing a lot of pressure, your adrenal gland releases a higher level of cortisol (one of the stress hormones) into the blood. It is your body's way of responding to the stressor.
This is called the neuroendocrine response. Effects of cortisol are harmful when too much of this hormone is present in the body.
More recent research findings from the NCI suggest that the body’s neuroendocrine response can directly alter important cellular processes such as DNA repair and the regulation of cell growth.
These cellular processes are important because they help in the prevention and protection against the formation of tumors.
This is bad news especially for some hormone-related cancers such as breast and colorectal.
Besides weakening your immune system and increasing the level of cortisol in your body, the other harmful physiological side effects of stress on health are...
depression,
high cholesterol, and
weight gain.
Weight gain beyond what is normal is one of the physical symptoms of stress. It is not good for your health. The dangers of being overweight are implicated in breast and colon types of cancer.
