The Myth of Normal 38
Are Usually Nice Persons’—How Physicians Experienced in ALS See the Personality Characteristics of Their Patients.”[6] In a study of men with prostate cancer, anger suppression was associated with a diminished effectiveness of natural killer (NK) cells—a frontline immune system defense against malignancy and foreign invaders. These cells play a key role in tumor resistance. [7] In previous research, NK cell activity was reduced in healthy young people in response to even relatively minor stresses—especially for those who were emotionally isolated, a significant source of chronic stress. Grief, too, has a powerful physiological dimension. An illuminating study from the British journal Lancet Oncology described the impact of psychological factors on the intricate pathways linking the immune system, the hormones, and the nervous system in, for example, bereavement. Among parents who lost an adult son to an accident or military conflict, the authors reported increased occurrence of lymphatic and hematological malignancy— cancers of the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes—along with skin and lung cancer. [8] War kills, and so, it seems, can deep emotional loss. As for cancer, so with other illnesses. In a Danish nationwide study, grieving parents had double the risk of multiple sclerosis. [9] (Despite such compelling evidence, I do not believe the loss of a loved one, howsoever tragic, by itself necessarily poses a health risk. I believe the latter depends on how people are able to process their loss, including what support they may reach out for and receive. It’s not only events as such but also our emotional responses and how we process them that affect our physiology.) One 2019 study alone in Cancer Research should set every clinician on a fast-track exploration of bodymind medicine. Women with severe post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were found to have twice the risk of ovarian cancer as women with no known trauma exposure. [10] The Daily Gazette, published by Harvard University, where the study was done, reported, “The findings indicate that having higher levels of PTSD symptoms, such as being easily startled by ordinary noises or avoiding reminders of the traumatic experience, can be associated with increased risks of ovarian cancer even