Cancer and Emotions

[cmbyrd50]

I got this out of Moffitt Cancer Center and thought it was
interesting that Drs. are aware of the correlation between cancer
and a persons emotions.

Emotions and their role in cancer
Chronic Stress:
Stress can be defined as a reaction to any stimulus or interference
that upsets normal functioning and disturbs mental or physical
health. It can be brought on by internal conditions such as illness
pain, emotional conflict, or psychological problems, or by external
circumstances, such as bereavement, financial problems, loss of job
or spouse, relocation or many of the cancer- contributing factors
such as ionizing radiation, geopathic stress, and electromagnetic
fields.

Under emotional distress, the brain may signal the adrenal glands to
produce chemicals called corticosteroids, hormones which weaken the
immune response. Cancer related processes are accelerated in the
presence of these chemicals 1 as well as other stress hormones like
prolactin.2 Certain cancers have also been associated with
distressing life events. In one study, the risk of developing
breast cancer was five times higher if the women had experiences an
important emotional loss in the six years prior to the discovery of
the tumor.3

Toxic Emotions
Since the 1970's research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology has
documented direct links between emotions and biochemical events in
the body, thereby establishing on a scientific basis what fold
healers have always known: emotions can manifest themselves as
physical symptoms. Noted women's healthy expert, Christiane
Northrup, MD of Yarmouth, Maine, coined the term toxic emotions to
indicate the powerful, strongly held, and after unconsciously active
beliefs and emotions that help generate symptoms that keep illnesses
in place. "A thought held long enough and repeated enough becomes a
belief," Says Dr. Northrup. "The belief then becomes biology." In
the view of Dr. Northrup as well as other alternative practitioners
working with cancer patients, beliefs and emotions can be legitimate
toxins, contributing to an overall weakening of the immune system

Although scientists have long debated the role of repressed emotions
in cancer, at least three studies offer compelling evidence
validating that role. In each of these studies, People were
followed over time to determine their rates of disease in relation
to various behaviors or exposures. Taken together, the results
indicate a link between caner resistance and emotional expression or
its; suppression.

Emotional repression may also influence one's survival from cancer –
that is, how well a cancer patient fares after being diagnosed. In
either separate studies of patients with various cancer, each
reported a significant association between hopelessness and passive
coping responses – not taking an assertive position toward one's
illness and recovery process and poor cancer survival rates

The connection between emotional stress and cancer survival can be
explained by recent findings in psychoneuroimmunology It's research
suggests that the persistence of cancer cells depends in part on
internal body controls that retrain or stimulate tissue growth;
psychological factors appear to regulate these controls through
neurological, hormonal, and immunologic pathways. These and other
mind/body links could play a major roll in determining a person's
ability to survive cancer and mind/body therapies should be employed
to alleviate these psychological factors.

The Role of Emotions in Cancer
During the 1960's, psychotherapist Ronald Grossarth-Maticek
administered questionnaires to 1,353 inhabitants of Crvenka,
Yugoslavia. After following the subjects for a decade, Grossarth-
Maticek concluded that nine out of ten cases of cancer could to
predicted on the basis of `an overly rational, anti-emotional
attitude' and a tendency to ignore signs of poor health. People
with low anti-emotional scores were 29 times less likely to develop
cancer than those with high anti-emotional scores.

Patrick Dattore and colleagues followed 200 disease-free individuals
for ten years and compared the psychological tests of 75 veterans
who eventually got cancer with the 125 who remained cancer free.
Contrary to expectations, those who developed cancer appeared less
depressed than the others; however, these same individuals were also
more likely to suppress their more intense or upsetting feelings.
Again, those who openly expressed their feelings were less likely to
develop cancer.

The longest study to date, initiated in 1946, focused on students
from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Researchers divided 972
of the students into five groups based on various psychological
measures. Over the course of three decades, students characterized
as `loners' who suppressed their emotions beneath a bland exterior
were 16 times more likely to develop cancer than those who gave vent
to their feelings. In an earlier report, base on 1,337 students,
cancer death rates correlated significantly with a lack of closeness
with parents.