If Hypnosis Can Help With Stress, Can It Help Defend Against Disease?
11/17/2006
[+/-] show/hide this post
From ScienceDaily.com is the following article:
Can stress reduction help our bodies defend against cancer? Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh researchers addressing this question believe it might be so.
In the Journal of the National Cancer Institute they discussed a reaction to an analysis of the association between the experience of stress among breast cancer patients and the function of their immune system reported by psychologist Barbara Andersen of The Ohio State University.
Cohen and Rabin evaluate evidence for stress-elicited immune change influencing cancer progression. They feel there is substantial evidence that psychological stress can alter immune function. But, the role of the immune system in cancer is less clear. There are questions as to whether the types of changes in immunity that occur under stress are the same types that might be important for cancer. Also discussed were studies that demonstrate that interventions designed to reduce stress might lessen cancer recurrence and prolong life.
They do point out that it is still unclear whether the beneficial effects of stress-reduction occur because of changes in immune function. They suggests that existing evidence is consistent with an important role of stress-elicited immune changes in cancer but that convincing evidence for such a link is still a ways off.
Cohen is the author of two landmark studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that link stress to immune function. The New England Journal of Medicine report in 1991 was the first to link stress as a cause of the common cold. A 1997 JAMA report revealed that people with diverse social roles and supportive social networks are less likely to develop colds.
elicited immune changes in cancer but that convincing evidence for such a link is still a ways off.
My question is can we as hypnotherapist play a role in helping the immune system fend off disease? I believe so!
<< Home