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Post by Twice-Shy on May 29, 2003 11:02:18 GMT -5
I came across this article in today's BMJ.com. It makes pretty shocking reading:
Anxious people 'more likely to get cancer'
Date: 29/05/2003
Researchers in Norway have found that anxiety can lead to cancer. They investigated 62,591 people between 1995 and 1997, and found that those with high levels of anxiety had a 25 per cent higher risk than a normal risk of pre-cancerous conditions. The study was led by Amstein Mykletun, a psychiatrist at the University of Bergen, and his work is published in New Scientist magazine. One of his theories is that stress, anxiety and depression lower the activity of the immune system, allowing cancer cells to grow. Meanwhile, a study at the University of Hull, sponsored by Cancer Research UK, is looking at whether the power of positive thinking can help to fight bowel cancer in 180 patients.
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Post by sweetness on May 29, 2003 14:55:37 GMT -5
I ve always thought that your health in general is influenced by your mental health. I think that doctors still dont pay as much attention to your mental health when they treat you for a disease.
I ve seen a show one time of a woman that got breast cancer and her doctor had asked her if something had happened to her a few years ago that caused much grief, and then she realised that her sisters son had died. So this doctor linked her getting cancer with a period of enormous grief.
Although i am anxious a lot too, i dont get sick a lot actually, i ve never had. Do you get sick easily ? like the flu or anything..
The only physical thing i can link with my anxiety is that i sweat very easily. It s why i will not wear a thick sweater easily. Aside from that i can get depressed from time to time when my shyness seems to take the overhand.
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Post by moogle on May 29, 2003 15:03:29 GMT -5
i rarely get sick, though i have chronic migraines, but that's inherited (as is my depression). i have been in the hospital a few times, but i've never had anything life-threatening in itself.
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Post by Twice-Shy on May 30, 2003 7:17:37 GMT -5
It really is amazing just how many physical 'illnesses' that anxiety and stress can cause of. It can cause major ilness like Coronory Heart Disease but it is also the trigger for 'lesser' ones.
At the minute, I'm going through a particularly stressful / anxious time and I've had a painful crick in my neck for the last few weeks. I've also had a restless few weeks sleep wise.
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Post by moogle on May 30, 2003 7:55:29 GMT -5
i know that it was probably the cause of my tachycardia..my psychiatrist had even told me it was a panic attack.. luckily, after 9 hours of it, i went to the emergency room.
and i haven't had a goodnights sleep since i came back to live with my parents, but i think it's b/c i'm sleeping alone again.
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Post by sweetness on May 31, 2003 16:38:19 GMT -5
I m also always very tired but i m not sure if that s from the anxiety or the depression i m in right now. I always need plenty of sleep i m very sensitive to not getting enough sleep and if i m worrying i feel tired the whole day.
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Post by moogle on May 31, 2003 16:47:40 GMT -5
sleeping too much is a symptom of depression.
i'm mostly thrown off by when i sleep and wake up. if i sleep in or sleep late, i feel tired the whole day. if i get up early and got enough sleep i feel a lot better.
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Post by spitzig on May 31, 2003 17:44:38 GMT -5
sleeping too much is a symptom of depression. i'm mostly thrown off by when i sleep and wake up. if i sleep in or sleep late, i feel tired the whole day. if i get up early and got enough sleep i feel a lot better. Most people seem to be more tired if they get too much sleep. I start getting more tired if I get more than about 8.5 or 9 hours of sleep. 10 hours, and I feel like hell. Unless I've lacked in sleep for a few days or so. |
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Post by moogle on May 31, 2003 18:45:33 GMT -5
7 & a half hours is the ideal number for me. anything a little less or a little more and i'm exhausted. if i have to go with very little sleep, 4 and a half hours is best so i won't fall asleep wherever i go. i learned this in my first few years of high school.
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Post by Twice-Shy on Jun 1, 2003 5:25:27 GMT -5
When I'm going through a bad period I notice that I get up the next morning more tired than I was when I went to bed the night before. I love my sleep as well but I try to drag myself out of bed at a decent and consistent time each day. It really is hard some mormnings.
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Post by spitzig on Jun 1, 2003 21:39:24 GMT -5
I'm better with more sleep, until I get down to about 4 or 5 hours. Less than that, and no sleep is best.
There's also a sharp decrease in how good I am at about 6 hours of sleep.
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