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Can Stress Cause Cancer? Debunking the Connection
By Raveena M Prakash
Cancer is a complex and life-threatening disease and the second most common cause of death in the world. Many people are concerned about whether stress and cancer are related or not. If you are concerned or confused about whether stress causes cancer, then read further! Stress is not directly linked to the development of cancer. However, stress is an unavoidable factor in our lives. Patients diagnosed with chronic stress, anxiety, and sadness might affect the risk of developing cancer and trigger the cancer-causing agents in people.
In this article, we’ll discover more about the connection between stress and cancer, how stress causes cancer, some risk factors for cancer, and how stress affects healthy habits that reduce the risk of cancer!
Can stress cause cancer?
Some studies suggest that chronic stress in people often develops chemical changes in the body. This might result in high blood pressure and the release of some other chemical substances that increase certain hormones and inflammation in the body. This might often result in the development of health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes and result in the spread and growth of cancer in people.
However, there are no studies that claim the direct connection of stress to cancer yet. Although stress is a triggering factor that can influence the growth of already developed cancer and stimulate some risk factors of cancer towards the growth of cancer and growth in the body.Stress might indirectly cause the development of cancer in people who have chronic stress conditions.
What is stress and how does it affect the body?
Stress is the physical body’s response to any challenging and overwhelming situation. However, when a person feels or gets stressed, it might result in the release of certain hormones, also known as stress hormones, such as cortisol and catecholamines, including adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Stress can be classified into three types, including:
- Acute stress: This is a type of stress that often stays short-term. It can appear and disappear rapidly in people. This type of stress might appear; sometimes this stress can be positive and negative.
- Episodic stress: This is another type of stress, which is often referred to as episodic stress. In this case, the patient might be experiencing stress on a regular basis. With this kind of stress, the person might not get enough time to sleep, stay calm, and relax. However, episodic stress frequently affects people working in stressful situations such as healthcare, finance, and the armed forces.
Chronic stress: This is another type of stress, also referred to as chronic stress. However, people who experience stress for an extended period of time, such as weeks or months, are considered chronic stress patients. It’s important to find a way to relax and calm the mind because people with chronic stress might develop many serious health conditions.
Can stress make cancer worse?
Chronic stress is considered more damaging and destructive in people, and this influences and triggers many health conditions, including lifestyle-related diseases. If you are a person with chronic stress, it further influences your medical conditions and impacts them to get worse, including cancer. Long-term stress influences the immune system of a patient, which further results in a weakened immune system. A weakened immune system increases the risk of many health issues, such as digestive problems, depression, and mental health diseases.
However, prolonged stress increases the risk of cancer, and autoimmune diseases are also high-risk factors for growing and spreading cancer cells in the body, especially in patients diagnosed with these types of stress.
How does stress affect healthy habits that reduce the risk of cancer?
Stress often influences lifestyle choices such as healthy habits that often reduce the risk of cancer in people such as healthy diets, physical activities and exercise, stress management.
Here’s how stress influences lifestyle choices:
- Poor diet
- Lowered physical activity
- Stress management
- Sleep changes
- Increased smoking habits
- Excessive alcohol consumption
Consult Today
Stress does not directly cause cancer in people; however, people who are diagnosed with cancer with high levels of stress can make it worse. Stress management plays a crucial role in the lives of people who are diagnosed with cancer. As we all know, cancer patients experience emotional distress, including anxiety, fear, and sadness, and some experience depression as well.
Managing stress altogether helps people who are not even diagnosed with this or people who are diagnosed with cancer. Effective stress management can also improve emotional well-being and the body’s effectiveness in staying healthy.
At Oncare, we offer professional guidance and effective treatment plans and their effectiveness to our cancer patients. We also offer affordable cancer treatments along with experienced cancer specialists' consultations.
If you or any loved ones of yours are having any symptoms of cancer or diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer hospital and book an appointment with our cancer specialists today!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are stressing more than usual, try these tips to manage your stress.
These may include:
- Stay active and start practicing physical activities
- Eat healthy diet
- Avoid unhealthy habits
- Consider meditation
- Talk and connect with others
- Laugh and engage in joyful activities
- Try yoga and breathing exercises
- Get enough sleep
Studies suggest that stress doesn’t directly cause cancer in the body. While it can directly influence the process of cancer development in cells by affecting the immune system, lifestyle factors, and some biological mechanisms in the body. One of the causes of cancer is smoking, alcohol consumption, HPV infection, or hepatitis B infection. Smoking and cancer are related and considered risk factors for cancer.
Stress hormones slow down a process called anoikis. This process is supposed to destroy cancer cells and prevent them from further spreading in the body.