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Prevent Breast Cancer with Positive Thinking!
Feeling happy and optimistic could help prevent breast cancer.
Staying positive has a protective role against breast cancer, but negative life events such as the loss of a parent or close relative, divorce or the loss of a spouse can increase a woman's risk of developing the disease, according to BMC Cancer.
Researchers questioned 255 women with breast cancer and 367 healthy women about their life experiences and evaluated their levels of happiness, optimism, anxiety and depression before the cancer diagnosis.
"Young women who have been exposed to a number of negative life events should be considered an 'at-risk' group for breast cancer and should be treated accordingly," said researcher Ronit Peled.
The researchers do point out that since women were interviewed after their diagnosis, they may have exaggerated the negativity of their past emotional states – however they did conclude that experiencing more than one severe and/or mild to moderate life event is a risk factor for breast cancer among young women.
“On the other hand, a general feeling of happiness and optimism can play a protective role," added Peled.
But Dr Sarah Cant, Policy Manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said that there is no clear evidence that positive or negative experiences can affect breast cancer risk, since emotional stress is highly subjective and is difficult to measure accurately.
"Women in this study were interviewed after breast cancer was diagnosed when they may be more likely to recall feeling depression and anxiety. The researchers also didn't account for other factors known to affect breast cancer risk such as family history or weight,” she said.
"Breast cancer is a complex disease and there is unlikely to be one single cause."
To find out more surprising ways your mindset could be affecting your health, Click Here.
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