Stress and Cancer: How Stress Promotes Cancer

ByShaun Snapp

Executive Summary

  • Chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation, a precursor to many diseases.
  • This article focuses on the importance of stress reduction.

Introduction

We all know that stress has a negative impact on our health, but did you know stress can actually promote cancer? Yes, stress and cancer are linked. It’s true – stress promotes inflammation, which is a precursor to cancer. However, the impact of stress on our bodies tends to be minimized in discussions both in medicine around general health.

Stress and Cortisol

Stressful situations cause the release of hormones that can lead to physical reactions such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. These reactions are part of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response, which is designed to protect us from danger. However, when this response is continually activated, it can take a toll on our bodies, leading to chronic stress.

The direct connection between stress and inflammation is well-established. When stressed, our bodies produce more of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases inflammation throughout the body, which can lead to various health problems.

Stress and Cancer: Chronic Inflammation

When a person stays in a long-term inflamed state, it is called chronic inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is a powerful precursor to a host of diseases, and the direct connection between inflammation and cancer is well-established. Inflammation is a significant risk factor for cancer; chronic inflammation can lead to cancerous tumors.

This all means that reducing stress is critical to preventing and treating cancer. This is explained in the quotation from the book The Metabolic Approach to Cancer: Integrating Deep Nutrition, the Ketogenic Diet, and Nontoxic Bio-Individualized Therapies.

Stress is the most powerful carcinogen imaginable. It increases inflammation, spikes blood sugar, and disables the immune system. Metastasis is promoted when the body or mind is stressed, and so is angiogenesis. Yet chronic stress in its many forms—emotional, physical and chemical is the norm of modern living. A diet high in sugar causes a chronic stress response in the body, as does constant exposure to toxins. Today’s persistent stress and pressures of daily life, now mostly considered “normal,” are a far cry from the intermittent physical stressors experienced by our ancestors, like running from a bear or eating a poisonous plant. In truth, the sporadic stress our ancestors experienced was a foundational aspect of human evolution— concept called hormesis, which also happens to be the foundational concept of homeopathic medicine.

Stress of any kind triggers a complex metabolic cascade that includes the production of cortisol, our primary stress hormone. Cortisol also regulates many normal bodily functions, including the sleep-wake cycle. When in excess, however, cortisol pushes several aspects of the cancer process forward, chiefly metastasis.² The stressors of modern living significantly deplete levels of another powerful anticancer hormone, melatonin, also considered the sleep hormone. A 2015 meta-study of melatonin concluded that melatonin not only reduces the side effects of chemotherapy but is also effective at eliminating cancer cells.

Stress and Cancer: The Direct Connection Between Stress and Inflammation

The direct connection between stress and inflammation is well-established. Stress promotes the release of inflammatory cytokines, which are known to be a precursor to cancer.

However, the impact of stress on the body tends to be minimized.

Studies have shown that chronic stress can lead to an increase in inflammation and a decrease in cancer-fighting cells. This creates a perfect environment for cancer cells to grow and proliferate.

If you’re struggling with chronic stress, it’s essential to find ways to manage it. This may include exercise, relaxation techniques, and counseling. Reducing stress can help reduce your risk of developing cancer.

Chronic Stress and Insulin Resistance

Chronic stress also causes insulin resistance, increases the production of IGF-1 and inflammation, weakens the immune system, alters the gut microbiota, and drives angiogenesis and metastasis. Think about it: Metastasis is like cancer’s version of the fight-or-flight response. Since stress influences neurochemical, hormonal, digestive, inflammatory, and immunological functioning, and these changes all influence the carcinogenic process, it is not surprising that stress fuels tumor growth and dissemination.

Caring for a loved one with cancer is also incredibly stressful. Some studies have found that a cancer diagnosis can have a greater impact on family members than on patients and is associated with increased morbidity for caregivers.

Stress and Pesticides in Food

You may not realize it, but if you eat a nonorganic apple, you also eat forty-seven different pesticides, six known or probable carcinogens. Conventionally raised produce causes an increased toxic load, creating oxidative stress for detoxification and immune systems. Toxins such as pesticides cause the formation of dangerous free radicals like ROS. Oxidative stress damages mitochondria and causes inflammation—and we know how that fuels the fires of cancer.