Stress: Breast Cancer Prevention?
September 9, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Continued levels of high stress put women at risk for serious illnesses. However, a new study shows high levels of daily stress may actually lower the risk of a woman developing first-time breast cancer.
Throughout the course of an 18-year study, researchers from Denmark assessed the relationship between stress and first-time incidences of primary breast cancer. They classified 6,500 women into categories based on their reported levels of stress -- low, medium and high. The stress was then categorized as tension, nervousness, impatience, anxiety or sleeplessness. Researchers also took into consideration whether or not the women had children and if they were menopausal.
During the study, 251 women were diagnosed with first-time breast cancer. However, data showed breast cancer was 40-percent less likely to develop in women who reported high levels of stress. Researchers also found for every increased level of stress, women were 8-percent less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Researchers believe these findings have to do with the effect stress has on estrogen levels and how that affects breast cancer. They caution stress-induced changes in a woman's hormone levels are not healthy.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal, 2005:331:548-550
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