Is there a cancer personality? There is much debate whether different personality types influence the onset of different diseases. University of Chicago researchers believe they have found a link between the temperament of women who are prone to being fearful of new experiences and the development of cancer by studying less adventurous-by-nature female rats who exhibit the same apprehension.
In the study, researchers noted that the difference in temperament of rats from birth on have different death rates from mammary and pituitary tumors -- the more adventurous rats faired better with less cancer development and lived longer than their more timid female counterparts.
"Human studies may need to consider more basic behavior traits than those already considered," stated said Martha McClintock, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago. "By understanding the development of basic traits, researchers will be better equipped to link the connections between personality and cancer development."
During the study, the researchers found that by middle age, 80 percent of the fearful rats had mammary cancer while only 38 percent of the adventuresome rats had developed cancer.
The study, Infant Temperament Predicts Life Span in Female Rats that Develop Spontaneous Tumors, is published in the current issue of Hormones and Behavior.
Do you think there a connection between personality traits and cancer development?
