1. Ms. Craven,
That is most interesting information!

Posted at 5:01PM on Nov 29th 2005 by Geoffry J. Perkinowitz

2. If we consider that cancer is an umbrella term for over 100 diseases, then the cause, and causes, are going to be as variable and varied as the differences in the diseases themselves. Stress may be one of the factors eventually leading to some cancers.

In the context of the mind body connection's role in the complex mechanisms governing physical health, and the mind body connection's ability to affect physical health, which is where the conversational category of stress-related illness is found, it is reasonable to conclude there will be some truth to the validity of belief that emotional and psychological factors can contribute to a cell's ability to function properly, or go astray, and in time, wildly out of control.

The power of the mind body connection is real, and has been proven in scientific research studies, involving interestingly positive conclusions in the practice of meditation, visualization and prayer.

If so, and it is so, then stress could have an equally negative impact, as real as the proven positives.

Aside from the conclusions that the studies cited in this article suggest, that there is no correlation between stress and cancer diagnosis, I suggest additional studies might provide a different conclusion, depending on how the research was structured and the scope of the research.

I make this last statement because, if you have a large number of cancer survivors, and families of cancer survivors, insisting stress played a role, it is logical to conclude they might just know something no one else could possibly know, given cancer actually happened to them.

To the researchers, I'd say, go back, look again. Reframe the hypothesis, and build from there. Maybe it is not stress in the conventional use of the word or by the definition normally attributed to it, but it is something that looks and feels alot like stress to the people describing it as stress. Then again, it could be stress.

Cancer is still such a mystery on so many levels, observations from a large number of cancer survivors, that reach the same belief -- in this case, that stress played a role -- has to have weight and merit to it.

Posted at 2:54AM on Nov 30th 2005 by Dalene

3. If there are readers like me, who think the whole registration process some online newspapers insist on to access online articles, is tediously burdensome, I found the article published elsewhere at:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051129/ZNYT04/511290660

Does Stress Cause Cancer? Probably Not, Research Finds By GINA KOLATA New York Times

Posted at 2:52PM on Nov 30th 2005 by Dalene