By Colin E. Champ, MD, CSCS – Radiation Oncologist
Stress is your body’s normal and natural response to a perceived threat. It can be good or bad. Stress can drive you to accomplish things and it can help you to avoid danger, or it can cause you to pull out your hair and make you look old before your time.
Whether good or bad, too much stress can greatly impact your physical and emotional health. Much research has been conducted to show the correlation between stress and problems such as heart disease or depression, for example. But what about the link between stress and cancer? The answer isn’t obvious, but experts are studying the possible role that stress can play in the development of various types of cancer.
Types of Stress
Before we dig too deep into the connections between stress and cancer, let’s take a step back and discuss the different types of stress. There are two types of stress, acute and chronic. To some degree, both are a normal part of daily life.
Acute stress
Acute stress is what most people imagine when they talk about stress. It’s typically short-lived and triggered by specific situations.
These might include:
• Needing to slam on your brakes to avoid hitting a car that’s pulled in front of you
• Arguing with a family member or friend
• Being in traffic that’s causing you to be late to work
• Feeling pressure to meet an important deadline
Acute stress can cause several physical symptoms, including an increased heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, quick breathing, and sweating. These effects are usually temporary and resolve once the stressful situation is over.
Chronic stress
Chronic stress happens when your stress response is activated for prolonged periods. It can wear you down both physically and emotionally.
Examples of things that can lead to chronic stress include:
• Living in a dysfunctional or abusive home situation
• Working a job that you hate
• Having frequent financial trouble
• Living with a chronic illness or caring for a loved one who does
Compared to acute stress, chronic stress can have long-term effects on physical and emotional health. Over time, chronic stress can contribute to conditions such as heart disease, anxiety and depression, and a weakened immune system.
Can stress cause cancer?
Although chronic stress can lead to many health problems, it is unclear whether it is linked to cancer. Studies conducted to date have had varying results.
Even when stress appears to be linked to cancer risk, the relationship could be indirect. For example, people under chronic stress may develop certain unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, overeating, becoming less active, or drinking alcohol, that are themselves associated with increased risks of some cancers.
This is only one of several theories about stress and cancer. Many theories exist about how stress could contribute to a person’s risk of developing cancer.
Here are some of the most popular ones:
• Continuous activation of the stress response and exposure to the associated hormones could promote the growth and spread of tumors.
• The immune system can be essential for finding and eliminating cancer cells. But chronic stress can make it harder for your immune system to carry out these tasks.
• Prolonged stress could lead to inflammation that may contribute to cancer risk.1
Thoughts from Dr. Colin Champ
Stress from our workplace, which usually includes high work demand, long hours, and a difficult working environment, has shown both positive and negative links with cancer. Individuals with chronically stressful states, like depression and a lack of social support, seem to experience an increased risk of cancer. Yet, like most population studies, results have been mixed and often contradictory, and narrowing down the cause versus effect of this association has been difficult.
Difficult and stressful life events seem to have a stronger association with cancer, specifically breast cancer. For instance, the death of a mother during childhood leaves the child at an increased risk of breast cancer later in life. Jewish individuals who were part of the Holocaust experienced a higher risk of breast and colon cancer versus the rest of the population. Collateral damage from stressful events like death, divorce, or a continued stressful social situation takes a little over a decade to lead to cancer.2
However, all stress is not bad. Acute stress—sprinting, lifting heavy weights, taking on challenges—is a normal part of life and may provide benefits. Acute stresses can stimulate the immune system and support metabolism. My general advice is to try to minimize the chronic causes of stress in your life while accepting the acute one and using them to your advantage.
Inspire Exercise Medicine
Inspire Exercise Medicine is focused exclusively on supporting cancer patients on the road to regaining their health with oncologist-defined evidence-based treatment plans for nutrition and exercise in support of their overall health and wellness.
A significant part of the Inspire Exercise Medicine space is dedicated to physical, monitored exercises on machines and with exercise equipment specifically selected for treatment purposes.
Inspire Exercise Medicine
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Dr. Colin Champ, MD, CSCS
Dr. Colin Champ, MD, CSCS, is a radiation oncologist with board certifications in radiation oncology and integrative and holistic medicine. Dr. Champ is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, and his research interests include the prevention and treatment of cancer with lifestyle modification, including exercise and dietary modification.
References:
1. Seladi-Schulman, J. (2019) Can stress cause cancer? The evidence is mixed, Healthline. Healthline Media. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/can-stress-cause-cancer#theories.
2. Stress and cancer – it’s bad, but not all bad (2017) Colin Champ. Available at: https://colinchamp.com/stress-and-cancer/ .