A Good Reason to De-Stress This Holiday Weekend: It Could Help Stave Off Cancer-Causing Conditions

Stress during the holiday season can not only lead to cancer-causing habits such as smoking, unhealthy diet, and lack of exercise, but it also significantly weakens the immune system. In order to effectively fight cancer cells during treatment, the immune system needs to be as strong as possible. However, stress can sometimes lead to inflammation which directly impacts tumor growth. This can decrease the immune system’s ability to fight effectively.

"There have been several studies that have looked at healing and recovery after cancer surgery or have looked at recurrence,” said Dr. Heather Yeo, an associate professor of Surgery and Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College and assistant attending surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who’s also a SurvivorNet medical advisor. “When your immune system is down when there’s an excess of stress hormones going on your body has a hard time recovering and cancer takes advantage of that.”

The benefit of de-stressing holds true regardless of whether you’ve been through a cancer journey. While “there’s little convincing evidence that chronic stress causes cancer initiation, there is extensive evidence that chronic stress can promote cancer growth and progression,” Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, a professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center, also told SurvivorNet. The reason, he explained, is the release of chemicals — specifically epinephrine and norepinephrine — that can lead “to diverse biological effects of key cancer pathways.”

RELATED: How Can Diet Affect My Cancer Risk?

Epinephrine and norepinephrine aid the “fight or flight” human response to stress, whether it be physical or mental, which makes it possible to escape danger and perform physical feats in times of duress. But they can also increase blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar levels.

Dr. Allyson Ocean, associate professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College/NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, added that “it may be that stress leads people towards unhealthy behaviors that are more directly associated with cancer,” such as smoking, unhealthy eating, and drinking too much alcohol.

RELATED: Take it From a Guy Who Looks at Diseased Lungs Every Day Stop Smoking

Take Care of Your Mind and Body

One of the most important things you can do is be kind to yourself. Layering on top of the holiday madness feelings of regret or anger about things you can’t control is a recipe for stress. Breast cancer survivor Stefanie Wardrep told SurvivorNet that, after her diagnosis, she felt guilty she had wasted part of her life dealing with depression.

"When you're faced with your mortality, you think,'I wasted time.' Even though I can now see that it couldn't be helped. You have to deal with your mental health at whatever pace that you can,” she said.

RELATED: Stress & Cancer: Dramatic New Evidence That A Woman's Mental State Can Affect The Death Rate in Cervical Cancer

Meditation has proven to decrease psychological stress, including in cancer survivors. Survivor Shannon Masur, who previously spoke to SurvivorNet about her colon cancer and Lynch Syndrome, said she knew little about meditation before she got cancer, but that she tried it out and, ultimately, it helped her to let go of her fears.

"I had never meditated before and I thought it would be such a challenge,” Masur said. “But it really wasn’t … and just having that sense of calmness that comes into me when I’m meditating has been really, really helpful."

Physical activity, of course, can work wonders, whether it’s taking a stroll or going to the gym. Studies show that if you exercise — and eat healthy — there’s a 12% reduction in overall cancer risk.

“Exercise … has been associated with a decrease in recurrence rates for certain cancers like colorectal cancer and breast cancer,” Dr. Ocean told SurvivorNet.

Other ways to mitigate stress include getting enough sleep.

Dr. Brian Berman of the University of Maryland spoke with SurvivorNet about the benefits of meditation — and offered a guided meditation for the SurvivorNet community

Do Not Stress about Your Stress!

This may sound counter-intuitive, but again, there isn’t sufficient evidence to prove that stress itself actually causes cancer.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen, who serves as a medical advisor to SurvivorNet and is a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, spoke to SurvivorNet specifically about breast cancer, noting that “there are plenty of people that lead very healthy lives, have great diets, remove themselves from the stress and pollution of big cities, meditate every day, and still get diagnosed with breast cancer. Though stress can certainly contribute to how patients deal with their diagnosis, there is no evidence supporting the idea that it could actually cause the diagnosis.”

This doesn't mean that stress isn't something to keep in mind while dealing with a diagnosis or treatment, she said. Patients and their families should absolutely consider stress management a very important part of leading a healthy lifestyle even if the stress itself was not a factor in their cancer diagnosis.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center spoke with SurvivorNet about whether a hectic lifestyle actually causes cancer (it doesn’t — but it can contribute to other cancer-causing habits and conditions).

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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