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The link between stress and disease

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Compare and contrast the relationship between stress and (pick 2 diseases) CHS, cancer or infectious diseases

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Solution Summary

This solution compares and contrasts teh relationship between stress and cancer and stress and infectious diseases.

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Currently there is no evidence that stress can directly cause cancer.. However there is some evidence of a link between stress and developing certain kinds of cancer. At Ohio State University, researcher Dr. Ron Glasser found that students who were stressed out had slower healing wounds and took longer to produce immune system cells that eliminated invading organisms. Dr. Barry Spiegel, a top doctor of psychosomatic medicine found that breast cancer patients lived longer when they participated in support groups. Other studies have shown that women who have experienced traumatic losses or life events were more likely to have higher rates of breast cancer.

Some studies have indicated an indirect relationship between stress and certain types of virus related tumors. Evidence from various studies suggests that chronic stress can weaken a aperson's immune system which may affect the incidence of virus associated cancers such as certain lymphomas. More recent research suggests that the body's neuroendocrine response can directly alter important processes that can help protect against the development of cancer. (For example DNA repair.)

According to the National Cancer Institute who cites the studies that show that stress factors can alter the way the immune system ...

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