Jeez, Tracey, I find myself taking issue with two of your posts in one day! It's almost certainly because you write such thought provoking ones) though. ;-)
> Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 15:13:49 -0000 > From: "traceyincanada" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: Stress and lifestyle factors in cancer > > As logical as this correlation may seem, I can't help but disagree. > The reason is this: I have seen too many people deal with > extraordinary stress levels and yet not develop cancer. A perfect > example would be the people who's spouses have gone through BMT's > and they are left dealing with all the stress of trying to care for > them as well as raise very young ;-). I can't think of too > many life situations that are more stressful than this. There's actually strong evidence linking the onset of cancer with certain kinds of stresses, though not all. Frustrated anger (that is, when you're mad but have no outlet for it) seems to be the worst of these, but there are others as well which I forget. The reason seems to be that a prolonged dose of such emotions increase the body's production of certain hormones, most particularly cortisol, which quite definitively dampen the immune response overall. The mechanism and the data are thoroughly and entertainly presented in Robert Sapolsky's book, "Why Zebras Don't get Ulcers" (old timers on this list will remember my recommending his other book, "A Primate's Memoir" as one of the best I've read in years - about his 20 years of work with the baboons in East Africa). The fact that you know a lot of stressed people who don't get cancer doesn't affect this argument. Stress is only a risk factor, meaning that it doesn't make the development of cancer certain, only a little more likely. Any one individual would be unlikely to detect the small difference among their acquaintances - against the "background noise" of random cancer hits. By the way, it's NOT known whether stress of any sort actually causes cancer; indeed, it probably does not; rather, it decreases the body's ability to suppress cancer cells that are already there. It could be that most folks who develop overt cancer in the setting of prolonged stress are just becoming aware of it sooner than they otherwise would, but that most of them would have developed it sooner or later anyway. Cheery thought! Love, Richard R ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/8zSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New! Sign up for local CML support group meetings in your local community at http://cml.meetup.com Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. Loan programs for all types of business and commercial real estate. Apply anytime at http://realestatezoo.com CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Support List) --------------------------------- Part Of CMLHope.Com An International Community Of CML Patients For more information: http://cmlhope.com Post Message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To No Mail/Web: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CML Group Web Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
