Life Support

Your daily mood isn't all in your head; it also affects your
physical health. Research shows that depression and resistance to disease
are strongly linked. That's particularly significant when battling an
illness like cancer, since having a strong immune system can help save
your life. I think of cancer as a disease that must be fought with
treatments for both mind and body--with surgery, radiation and
chemotherapy when needed, but also with techniques which boost mood and
immunity naturally.

Social support, for example, can extend the life of a cancer
patient. In 1989, a landmark study on emotions and cancer was published
in The Lancet, a prominent British journal. It found that women with
cancer who attended support groups lived twice as long, on average, as
those who did not. A 1993 study from the University of California at Los
Angeles indicated that patients who had survived cancer for at least five
years and attended group therapy lived three times as long as those who
didn't seek therapy When people are grieving, their T-cells and natural
killer cells--both important immune system defenders--function less
effectively. Support from family, friends and fellow sufferers not only
provides comfort but may improve a patient's health by bolstering immune
cells.

People who feel isolated face the opposite effect: depression and
anxiety can increase the risk of cancer. In 1998, the National Cancer
Institute published a study of 4,825 healthy individuals, 146 of whom
were chronically depressed. Those who had been depressed for at least six
years were more likely to develop cancer. Another study, from Ohio State
University, found that breast cancer patients who reported high levels of
anxiety about their disease showed a major reduction in the effectiveness
of their natural killer cells. That doesn't mean that mood can cause
cancer, but it does imply that depression and anxiety lower immunity--and
that can be a risk factor for cancer.

A provocative 1998 study published in the Journal of Research and
Social Medicine, however, suggests that cancer might cause depression.
Researchers examined 43 patients with liver tumors and found a
significant correlation between clinical depression and an immune
modulator called interleukin sIL2r alpha. This chemical is released when
our immune system battles cancer cells--so the same substance which
fights the disease may also biologically trigger depression. Scary as
this may sound, it's actually good news because it gives us some new
tools for treating cancer patients. In addition to surgery and medicine,
we can use the power of the mind to impact health.

There are a host of natural remedies which I recommend to patients
diagnosed with cancer, especially immune boosters like alkylglycerols,
green tea and maitake mushroom extracts. But just as important is for
patients to seek out emotional comfort and support to help improve their
outlook on life. Taking the time to meditate and reflect on our
experiences can alleviate stress and negative thoughts, thus
strengthening the immune system. The mind-body connection is powerful,
and we need to use it to our advantage.

Dr. Richard Firshein is founder of the Firshein Center for
Comprehensive Medicine in New York City and author of The Nutraceutical
Revolution (Riverhead Books).