Immune System and Cancer

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Cynthia1962
Cynthia1962 Member Posts: 1,424
edited June 2014 in Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
Immune System and Cancer
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  • Cynthia1962
    Cynthia1962 Member Posts: 1,424
    edited March 2008

    I came across this article on another post and just had to share it.  Many of us are concerned about the state of our immune system and may even wonder if we're in someway responsible for our cancer because we had weakened or stressed our immune system.  This article addresses these concerns.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/29/health/29canc.html?ei=5088&en=94bfc420d0c6acb9&ex=1290920400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1204506355-iWJCH7XEN/k4GbHzspEGag 

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  • althea
    althea Member Posts: 1,595
    edited March 2008

    I've been thinking very much lately about why do some people get cancer and others don't.  Every person is at risk I think.  Stressors are part of life.  I think some people handle stress better than others, so would agree that examining stressors is not the same as examining one person's level of stress.  Sometimes I think being stressed out weakens our immune system to the point we are vulnerable to cancer and other diseases.  But then I look at my own mom who is a bc survivor from decades ago.  She's never had a recurrence, and high anxiety is a huge problem for her.  So she seems to debunk that theory singlehandedly.  And she's now 80 years old, bless her heart. 

    <>I feel like I'm in a constant state of flux regarding this dreaded disease and how to keep it away.  It's bad enough getting it once.  Just the thought of getting it again is a stressor, and then I worry that I'm opening a window to let it in just by contemplating the possibility for a half second.  Did I mention high anxiety runs in my family?  LOL   

      

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  • Little-G
    Little-G Member Posts: 647
    edited March 2008

    Great article Cynthia, thanks for sharing it!  I strongly believe stress is a major factor.  My own story is that within a 4 year time frame I had my teenage step daughter move in (stressful all on its own!!) my dad died, my mom had a major stroke, and then my sister died, and then I was dx.  I know there's a lot of people who think stress is not a factor, and that's fine, but I think its a very big factor that is being overlooked.  Thanks again for sharing it!

    g

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  • paige-allyson
    paige-allyson Member Posts: 781
    edited March 2008

    Cynthia- Great article. I really like that they make a clear distinction between stressors and stress. People experience life events that may be stressful in very different ways.  Although I think there is some general agreement that the development of cancer is influenced by multiple factors, I do believe that extreme played a role in the development of my breast cancer.

    I also believe that alcohol played a role. For most of my adult life I had been a regular drinker, usually 2 (or more) glasses of wine daily. One of the things that is known about stress is that in addition to its direct negative impact on the body it also increases the likelihood of other unhealthy habits like consumption of alcohol and tobacco. I find it really interesting that although alcohol has been directly implicated as a risk factor for breast cancer no one here (from the posts I've seen) ever talks about it. Likewise my PCP never did either. I was very forthright re: my drinking habits and he'd say "Aww most healthcare providers drink more than what's considered healthy." Anyhow...I stopped drinking alcohol the day I got my full pathology report back, based on my understanding of the impact it has on increasing estrogen and risk of recurrence. I think I should maybe start a thread asking about what women think about this and if they have changed their drinking habits (rather than highjacking your thread with my stream of consciousness early morning meanderings).

    BTW- I love your new signature quote! A good reminder to us all.

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  • lisametoo
    lisametoo Member Posts: 187
    edited March 2008

    Dear Cynthia,

    That is a great post about stress and how our body and mind reacts to it.  I had done quite a lot of research on that connection and posted earlier.  It's one thing to identify what causes disease, but another to address it's cure.  How to we take stress out of our life?  It is all about our perspective.  How do we react to what happens to us?  How many times have you listened to someone vent about something that happened to them, exasperated and complaining and coming up with no positive outcome?  This "victim" mentality is a breeding ground for imbalance.  Blaming everything bad that happens in our dayly life on how we "feel" is dangerous.  We must become responsible for our reactions to circumstance.  If we are unable to see the glass half full instead of half empty, we must change that.  Try a little experiment.  At the start of your day, make a note of all negative thoughts, comments in conversation, media, etc.  Try and keep a talley.  See how many you've counted before bed-time.  You will be SHOCKED at the bombardment of negative influence that you allow your conscience and sub-conscience to absorb.  You know that little voice in your head.  Put a STOP to it!  Don't allow yourself to become sucked into a conversation at work, or play that doesn't focus on the positive.  If it starts out negative, be a leader and turn it around.  If you have past experience that you keep re-hashing, try this technique found at http://www.tapping.com/.  This is fascinating stuff that helps clear negative emotions from the brain.  It can be current or past.  If you are religious, remember what is taught about having anxiety.  God will take away your problems if you let him.  Turn off that television unless it's positive broadcasting.  Today's media is poison generally.  Get back to a simpler life.  All this stimulus today is causing the brain to short-circut.  A simple life would do wonders for all of us.  My husband and I are selling or giving away all our "stuff", down-sizing our big house, and becoming servants to our Lord and others.  It is so freeing!  We also want another dogLaughing  Here is an article I posted earlier  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/2/19/how-your-thoughts-can-cause-or-cure-cancer.aspx

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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited March 2008

    "God will take away your problems if you let him.  Turn off that television unless it's positive broadcasting.   My husband and I are selling or giving away all our "stuff", down-sizing our big house, and becoming servants to our Lord and others.  It is so freeing!  We also want another dogLaughing" Quote

    Amen Sister,

    I'm also looking for second dog. (God's little wonderful gifts) Even medical doctors agree about this whole stress thing.  Mine wasn't even a current stress for me.  Mine was from a job that I had ten years ago that destroyed my health while I was there.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited March 2008

    We have had this discussion many times on these boards and see women weigh in on all sides of the question. I believe that we can say with certainty that our individual skills at reacting to various stressors in the environment determine, in part, the status of our immunological system. I'm very uncomfortable, though, with suggestions that the "victim" is to blame and those who don't handle stress well are responsible for their cancers.

    So, for my part, I'd like to at least submit an oft-repeated conclusion around here, one that I do favor:

    It's a crap shoot!

    ~Marin

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  • PSK07
    PSK07 Member Posts: 781
    edited March 2008

    Amen, Marin.

    Like Althea, my mom is high maintenance/high anxiety & a 17-year BC survivor. Never smoke, rarely drank.

    My M-I-L drinks like a fish & has no BC. She is very high on the stress scale.

    I am a half-empty kind of gal.  

    I rather like this study that bc.org reported:

    http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/environmental/new_research/20080129.jsp

    "The researchers were unable to confirm the previously reported association between antiemotionality and breast cancer. This suggests that it might have been only a "chance finding," they note.

    Bleiker's group also could not link any personality trait, alone or in combination with other personality traits or medical risk factors, to increased breast cancer risk.

    These findings may help to reassure women that their personality is unlikely to influence their odds of developing breast cancer, Bleiker and colleagues conclude.

    SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, February 6, 2008."

    Life is hard. Who knows how we end up with BC. Is it a virus? Genetics? Environment?  Even my half-empty personality likes to think I didn't do anything in particular that caused my BC. It certainly wasn't due to my thoughts.

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  • Little-G
    Little-G Member Posts: 647
    edited March 2008

    As far as the alchol subject, I have always drank.  I usually have about 4 glasses of wine a week.  I drank thru radiation too!  So, who knows on any of it.  I'm not giving that up as I enjoy the taste of a good red wine. 

    I do agree on the bombardment of negativity on the TV, and lots of other places.  The one thing having been dx with this, is that I also am on a path to simplify my life.  I am tired of running in the rat maze for that talked about golden piece of cheese at the end.  I don't know how many people listen to James Taylor, but his song "The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."  That is the short term goal for me.  Slow it down!!!  Enjoy what we have here. 

    g

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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited March 2008

    Why would a medical industry that will not tell you to even eat right, drink more water, don't abuse alcohol,  come out and say anything about stress.  Doctor's can't discuss even our weight issues... not to offend.  My oncologist said people will not stop self destructive behaviors that they know is hurting them.  Most of the women with bc would walk away and never come back to see them if they said "control your stress".  Read off the cancer sites, other doctors will tell you the leading cause of illnesses are stress and poor diet.  But you can't upset the cancer patient.  We who wish to practice natural meds know the whole body must be healed even our thought process.

    Yes, some people do not get cancer from stress they just get a multitude of other health issues.  Also their lives are not over yet hopefully there nothing lurking in the future. 

    Living in hope,

    Flalady

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  • Cynthia1962
    Cynthia1962 Member Posts: 1,424
    edited March 2008

    I think it's interesting that we all read the same article, but didn't all take away the same thing. lol  I believe that it says that the research shows that stress does not affect our immune system, at least to the degree that we get cancer.  I know that stress didn't cause my cancer, and I know plenty of stressed out/anxious people who don't have cancer.  Yes, the researchers didn't measure actual stress hormones, but they did study people who went through situations that would be very stressful for almost everyone (child dying, child with cancer, concentration camp, etc) and found no difference in their cancer rates.  That's hard to explain away.   Perhaps, stress will turn out to be one possible factor of many, like alcohol.

    I'm also not a "half-empty" kind of person.  Prior to my dx, I was a very healthy, grateful, compassionate, caring, optimistic.  Now, I realize that cancer doesn't care.  A lot of evil, horrid people never get cancer and a lot of wonderful, peaceful people do.  I didn't attract cancer to me so I could learn something!  My thoughts didn't give me cancer and they won't cure me of cancer.   

    "God will take away your problems if you let him".  

    Hmmm, normally I would ignore such a statement, but seeing how it's posted on a thread I began, I'm not going to this time.  So, Lisa, you believe that God will take away my problems if I let him?  Like he takes away the problems of the world?  Maybe, you need to get back to reading the news.  Do you really think the suffering and tortured peoples of the world aren't praying to God for help?  If he won't help them (and they need it more than I certainly do), then why would he take my measly problems away?  I don't deserve it more than they do just because of who I am and where I live!  I have nothing against God, and I don't blame him for the world's suffering, I just don't think it's in his job description to take away our problems.  

    Sorry, Ladies, for freaking out and getting off on a tangent.  I feel strongly about certain beliefs, obviously, especially when they're directed at me. lol

    Cynthia 

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  • iodine
    iodine Member Posts: 4,289
    edited March 2008

    I'm with Cynthia on this.  My belief is that I pray to help me have strength to do the things I must do and to  give our leaders the intelligence to do the things they must do for our country.

    I do not accept that turning my problems over to God will solve them.  I do, however, believe that I will have greater strength when I feel that I am not alone.

    Kinda like the man who, during an awful flood, sat on top of his home as it floated down the river and he turned down a ride in a boat, then a ride in a helicopter, saying God would save him.

    When he died and met God, he asked why God didn't save him; God ans: I sent you a boat and a helicopter, why didn't YOU help me?

    I pray for God to guide the medical professionals who care for me and mine, to use the science that He has allowed us to discover and guide the hands of those who he has given talent to operate on me.

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  • trigeek
    trigeek Member Posts: 916
    edited March 2008

    Gals I would highly suggest that you read the book ' A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose' by Eckhart Tolle ( Oprah is currently doing a 10 week online class with the author)

    I am not religious but highly spiritual.

    When I started freaking out paxton from september chemo thread suggested that I read this book, and it worked better than xanax for me.

    Stress might or might not be causing our bc( definitely agree with the crap shoot.. or as my surgeon stated ' Shit happens')  but it certainly is not making our lives easy now.  And now is what should matter.. why ruin a perfectly good day for the possibility of abad future day.

    Aylin - I think today is a half full day.. joy ! Good mood to go to rads mapping/tatto.. 

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  • lisametoo
    lisametoo Member Posts: 187
    edited March 2008

    More on stress and cancer causes:  http://www.huliq.com/50900/discouraging-news-stress-can-cause-cancer

    http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20030924/does-stress-cause-breast-cancer

    http://ezinearticles.com/?Does-Stress-Cause-Cancer?&id=505817 

    http://www.tehreer.com/2007/07/21/does-stress-cause-cancer/

    Dearest Cynthia,

    Please try not to take comments on this board so personally.  They are just opinions.  I am a Christian, and my beliefs do become a part of my posts.  If you are also a Christian, have you read Job?  This book helps me more than any other when I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.  The wonderful thing about this board, is that there just might be the one thing said that resonates positively for one person, albeit not all.  That is the beauty of communication.

    Blessings,

    Lisa

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