Can Stress and Depression Cause Cancer?

Too much of tension and depression in daily life do not lead to diseases like cancer, researchers say, contradicting a popular myth that daily stress can cause cancer. In a television interview, a couple of months ago, New Labour pollster Philip Gould was asked if he agreed with a claim by his wife, publisher Dame Gail Rebuck, that the nastiness and aggression of politics had contributed to his cancer, the Daily Express reported.

Lord Gould, who lost his battle with the disease last weekend at 61, said he did.

"I think that's true," he told the BBC.

"What would have been better for me would have been to have said, 'I'll do what I can do', which I do quite well, and then just push it back a little bit."

There are people who suspect that if stress can cause a headache, then why can't all the connected emotions such as anger, aggression and depression, also cause a tumour.

However the charity group CancerBACUP has regarded this gut feeling as a dangerous myth.

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"This common belief is false," the group has said.

"Some patients feel a traumatic event in life may have -triggered cancer, although many people suffer numerous such events and never get cancer."

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Researcher, Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK has asserted that till date, there is no clear evidence which links cancer to stress.

"Studies that have looked at stress and cancer development or survival have shown conflicting results and there is no clear evidence to suggest stress causes cancer," he said.

Source-ANI