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Being upbeat 'helps cancer fight'

22/08/2008

A happy and optimistic outlook can help prevent women developing breast cancer, a study suggested on Friday.

Research conducted in Israel and published in open access journal BMC Cancer shows positive thinking can help fight the onset of the disease.

On the flipside, adverse 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.

"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 study lead Ronit Peled from Israel's Ben-Gurion University.

"We can carefully say 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."

The study's authors calls for the relationship between happiness and health to be examined in future research and relevant preventative initiatives to be developed.

Commenting, Arlene Wilkie, director of research and policy at Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "This research is related to an area of breast cancer risk where the jury is still out.

"As yet, we simply don't know the full implications of positive thinking and its role in relation to breast cancer.

"What we do know is that age is the single biggest risk factor; around 80 per cent of cases are diagnosed in post-menopausal women. We encourage people to be breast aware and report any changes to your doctor without delay."

In the UK there are 45,500 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in women every year.