Brain Blogger Home
  • Home
  • About
    • Editor's Note
    • Contributors
  • Advertise
  • Archives
    • By Author
    • By Topic
    • By Year
    • By Month
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Topics
    • Popular
    • Series
    • Video
    • Carnivals
  • Sitemap
  • Subscribe
  • Neuroscience & Neurology
  • Psychology & Psychiatry
  • Health & Healthcare
  • More >>
    • BioPsychoSocial Health
    • Complementary & Alternative Medicine
    • Drugs & Clinical Trials
    • History of Medicine
    • Law & Politics
    • Living with a Brain Disorder
    • Opinion
    • Site News
    • Stigmatization
Brain Blogger RSS Feed

Brain Blogger Feed - 3500+ Readers

Follow BB:

Brain Blogger on FaceBook Brain Blogger on twitter Brain Blogger on Flickr Brain Blogger on YouTube
BioPsychoSocial Health
September 17, 2007

Stress-Cancer Link Update: Biomarkers and Psychological Traits

By Robert A. Yourell, MA | 2 Comments | Share | Print | Email | Tweet | Like | 1+

BioPsychoSocial_Health.jpgJust when I was complaining that the hypothetical stress-cancer link is still controversial, a new study takes a new approach to look at this question.

Researchers at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Japan, looked at a variety of psychosocial stressors and psychological coping mechanisms, and compared them with levels of a cancer biomarker, more specifically, a biomarker of cancer-related oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) (1). The subjects in this study weren’t already sick (a non-clinical sample).

The biggest psychological factors that appear to boost the cancer biomarker were tension-anxiety, depression-rejection, anger-hostility, fatigue, and confusion. Could that mean that relaxed, confident, motivated, loved, loving, vigorous, certainty is a cure for cancer? In that case, I’m going to become a televangelist. But which religion will work best for cancer proofing?

Forget I said that, my mind was wondering.

There’s more. The men’s biomarker was sensitive to whether they had recently lost a close family member. For women, poor stress coping was a culprit, especially if they were prone to wishful thinking.

Does The Secret give you cancer? Sorry, mind wandering again.

There were some interesting job factors that probably had a lot to do with the person’s mindstyle. Higher average working hours and a self-blame coping strategy were bad for biomarker levels.

But what if you love your job? Given the research that shows how valuable feelings of control are in the workplace, I’ll wager that work hours don’t count as much if you’re into your job. Kind of like calories that don’t count when you’re standing up, only the exact opposite. But put self-blame first, and maybe those extra hours are coming from not being assertive enough.

Follow Up on Genotypes

By the way, my last blog included the idea of tailoring lifestyle advice and treatment to specific genetic groups, based on some recent research and the adventurous approach of Craig Venter. Another recent research article from the Maastricht University and the Institute of Food Safety, Netherlands, put the idea so succinctly that I wanted to quote it here. In this case, they apply it to nutrition: “We conclude that genotyping for relevant polymorphisms enables selecting subgroups among the general population that benefit more of DNA damage-modulating effects of micronutrients (2).”

In other words, people can be grouped by their genotype (cluster of genetic traits), and some groups will benefit more from some micronutrients than others. I’ll wager that this will have important mental health applications down the road.

References

1. Masahiro I., Shinya A., Shoji N., Masato I., Masakazu M., Hiroshi K. (2001). Psychosocial factors as a potential trigger of oxidative DNA damage in human leukocytes. Cancer Science 92 (3), 367–376.

2. Wilms L. C., et. al. (2007). Impact of multiple genetic polymorphisms on effects of a 4-week blueberry juice intervention on ex vivo induced lymphocytic DNA damage in human volunteers. Carcinogenesis. Aug;28(8):1800-6. Epub 2007 Jun 29.

Robert A. Yourell, MA

Mr. Yourell's experience in the mental health and social services fields dates back to 1975. His training includes Ericksonian communication and hypnosis with John Grinder, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing with Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., Body Integrative Psychotherapy with Jack Rosenberg, Ph.D., and solution-focused psychotherapy. He provides free audio experiences on his site that include bilateral sound and Shimmering.

Related Articles

  • Genotypes, Stress and Emotions. Oh My!
  • Vulnerability-Stress-Coping Model for Schizophrenia
  • One Size Does Not Fit All
  • Research on Psychology and Cancer: Still in its Infancy?
  • Curry in a Hurry – The Health Benefits of Turmeric
  • Alzheimer’s Disease Vaccine on the Horizon
  • A Step Closer to the Great “Gene” Sale?

2 Responses

  1. Chan says:
    September 22, 2007 at 12:55 am

    Great news for your post and treatment of specific genetic groups. i like it very much and the post.

    Reply
  2. Jenny Regeling says:
    March 27, 2008 at 5:08 am

    I am convinced through my own personal experience with Breast Cancer over ten years ago that a positive mindset, health and happiness helps prevent such diseases as cancer. I went through a very stressful 2 years prior to my illness and since then have changed my whole outlook on life – a much healthier and happier lifestyle. I am speaking from real life experience.

    Reply

    Leave a Reply

    Click here to cancel reply.

    Subscribe without commenting


    Popular Posts

    • The Love Drug
    • Women After Sex
    • Fatty Acids and Suicide Risk
    • Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
    • Risks of Personalized Medicine
    • Mental Health Disorders Prevalent Among Youth Worldwide
    • Is Giftedness Nothing More than Good Genes?
    • The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
    • Behind the Masks - The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder
    • The NeuroSocial Network

    Future Posts

    • The Brain’s Buying Power

    Latest Posts

    • Aging Intelligently
    • A Nicotine Patch a Day Keeps the Cognitive Impairment Away
    • The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
    • Diabetes Impairs Cognition
    • Media Violence Leads to Real Violence
    • Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
    • Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life
    • The Brain’s Border Patrol – Blood Brain Barrier
    • Risks of Personalized Medicine
    • BED-head and Obesity – Food for Thought

    Comments

    • : This article had great info on
    • peter: I also see things the same way
    • Scapadas Amorosas: Lets patent it, package, marke
    • Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments, Matt
    • Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments and s
    • Alex: While we have our eyes glued t
    • Richard Kensinger, MSW: Carla,You are absolutely c
    • Soraya L. Valles: I'm interested in astrocytes.
    • Raymond Tallis: Dear Kitty, I have come to you
    • Steven: After smoking for 17 years dai
    • Matt: I'm just interested in hearing
    • Carla Easley: If everyone adopted the "Growt
    Sponsored Links

    GNLD, memory improvement, web design brisbane, Autism News Blog, Pharmaceutical Training, Neurotherapist, HGH, Banner Stands , Buy Advair Diskus Online , Atomic PR , substance abuse , Blood Lab Florida

    Copyright © 2005-2012 Brain Blogger sponsored by Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation (GNIF). All Rights Reserved.
    Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Feed | Log in | ISSN 1931-6224 | 0.835s
    9rules Network Member