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🔬 Targeting Cancer Cells EffectivelyCancer cell treatments are designed to specifically attack malignant cells without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. This approach enhances treatment effectiveness and reduces side effects, offering patients a better quality of life during treatment.👉 Explore the science behind it here: cancer-cell-treatment.com/mode-of-action/#cancerresearch #TargetedTherapy #cellhealth ... See MoreSee Less

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🧬 How Does Cancer Cell Treatment Work?
Cancer treatment focuses on targeting malignant cells while sparing healthy ones. Discover how this approach supports the body in fighting cancer.
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Cancer cells thrive due to oxidative stress. Learn more about how this imbalance impacts cancer and what you can do to prevent it!
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Cancer starts when normal cells' DNA changes, leading to uncontrolled growth and tumors. Discover how oxidative stress plays a role in this process.
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Swollen lymph nodes are a common symptom of many conditions, including infections, inflammatory disorders, and cancer. https://cancercelltreatment.com/2022/09/20/causes-for-swollen-lymph-nodes/

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Sympathetic Nervous System - How Mind Affects Body

March 28, 2022
Est. Reading: 7 minutes

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

The sympathetic nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that controls the body's fight-or-flight response. It is responsible for the body's survival instincts, preparing it for danger. The sympathetic nervous system triggers the release of adrenaline and other stress hormones, which increase heart rate, breathing, and blood sugar levels. These changes give the body extra energy and strength to deal with a stressful situation.

It is constantly active to some degree but is most active when faced with a threat or challenge. This response is known as the fight-or-flight response. It is an automatic reaction that occurs in response to a perceived threat. It's a survival mechanism hardwired into our nervous system.

When the fight-or-flight response is triggered, the sympathetic nervous system activates the body's stress response. This response causes physical changes, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure and a release of stress hormones. The stress response gives the body extra energy and strength to deal with a dangerous situation. The sympathetic nervous system is vital to the body's stress response but can also be damaging if constantly activated.

sympathetic stimulation

Parasympathetic Nervous System

On the other hand, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body's "rest and digest" response. This system slows heart rate, increases appetite, and promotes the release of digestive juices. The parasympathetic nervous system is active when we are resting or digesting food. It is constantly working to keep the body in a state of balance.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are two sides of the same coin. They are both necessary for the body to function correctly. However, chronic stress can cause the sympathetic nervous system to become overactive. Chronic stress can lead to health problems such as anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease. Finding ways to manage stress to avoid these health risks is essential.

How the mind affects the body - Mental health is as important as physical health.

Despite all the research, when it comes to understanding the brain, we are still just scratching at the surface. We know that the brain is far more powerful than we ever imagined. It is the control center for the entire body, and it profoundly impacts our physical health. The mind-body connection is complex, but there is growing evidence that our thoughts, emotions, and perceptions can significantly impact our physical health. Stress, for example, is a significant risk factor for many chronic diseases.

Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that one in four people will be affected and approximately 450 million people worldwide currently experiencing some degree of mental illness, there is still a lot of stigma toward mental illness. It is estimated that less than half of people who have mental illness get treated. With it being so prevalent, why aren’t more people treated, and why is it not a part of standard checkups? The majority of people living with mental illness typically have higher rates of poverty, unemployment, lack of stable housing, and social isolation. In addition, the lack of access to affordable healthcare treatments makes this a vicious cycle affecting millions.

About 14% of the global burden of disease has been attributed to neuropsychiatric disorders, mostly depression, anxiety, addiction disorders, and psychoses.

The physical consequences of mental illness require discussion; technology and conceptual advances in the fields of behavioral, biological, and medical sciences are aiding in our understanding of this complex relationship. Scientists have found that people with depression have biological and chemical changes in several different body systems. These changes are so profound they affect the function of these systems.

People with depression have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease because of the physical effects of depression. Researchers found that patients who had psoriasis and depression were 37% more likely to develop psoriatic arthritis, a complication involving inflammation in and around the joints, making them painful to move, than patients without depression. Depressed mood, which includes symptoms like fatigue and anxiety, is as strong a predictor as high cholesterol and obesity are for heart disease. After a major depressive episode, your risk of having a heart attack can increase up to 4 times, according to estimates.

parasympathetic nervous system

Epidemiological studies have shown that chronic stress, depression, and lack of social support may serve as risk factors for cancer development and progression. For example, a woman is twice as likely to develop breast cancer if she has experienced a stressful life event like marital disruptions, for example, divorce, separation, or death of a spouse. Other data indicates that cancer risk increases after chronic depression that has lasted for six or more years. Why do we see these issues so interconnected? To understand this complex relationship, we need to know what happens in the body, specifically the nervous system.

Chronic stress stimulates the release of cortisol, (the “stress hormone”) catecholamines, and glucocorticoids.

These are very potent substances that help to regulate inflammatory and immune responses. Cortisol increases blood sugar, decreases bone formation, and suppresses the immune system. Increased blood sugar levels in the body lead to insulin resistance, which can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. Decreased bone formation leads to fragile and brittle bones and contributes to the development of osteoporosis. Catecholamines, such as adrenaline, cause increased heart rate and blood pressure.

These two factors add pressure to the heart, making it work harder; over time, the heart can enlarge, leading to a heart attack or heart disease. The stress response also triggers the release of cytokines, which, when dysregulated, have a powerful effect on the neurotransmitter activities of serotonin and dopamine (our “happy” hormones). This effect produces the physical signs commonly associated with depression or schizophrenia, such as inflammation, hormone abnormalities, headache, and biochemical abnormalities. Continuous stimulation of these chemicals, as is the situation for most Americans, will eventually exhaust the body.

how mind affects body

Pro-inflammatory cytokines are also released during prolonged sympathetic stimulation. They generate reactive oxygen species that promote tumorigenesis by inducing DNA damage or inhibiting DNA repair. These cytokines can also inactivate tumor-suppressor genes, promoting the survival of tumor cells. Other effects of these stress chemicals include promoting tumor cell growth and proliferation and stimulating angiogenesis.

The effects of stress on the immune system can be seen in survivors of natural disasters. A study of survivors of Hurricane Andrew, which occurred in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992, showed that they had lower natural killer cells, suppressor T cells, and helper T cells than the comparison subjects.

 

These cells help strengthen the immune system to fight off infections.

A low immune cell count will weaken the immune system, making you more susceptible to diseases from bacteria, fungi, or viruses, and your body is less capable of fighting these infections. Viral infections contribute to 15% of human cancers worldwide. People with heightened sympathetic stimulation show an increased viral load in their blood and an impaired response to antiviral therapies.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause cervical and retinal carcinomas. Clinical studies have shown that stressful life events only increased the risk of progression of cervical dysplasia in HPV-positive women. People with AIDS are more likely to develop lymphomas and up to 19 times more likely to develop anal cancer when confronted with a stressful life event.

 

Mental Health and Cancer

85% of cancer patients and 71.4% of oncologists agree with the belief that psychological variables affect cancer progression. The following information is from a review of 25 different studies on the concept, performed by various scientists and researchers over 32 years (from 1966 to 1998). One study showed that the combination of extreme stress and low social support was related to an increase in breast cancer incidence. In contrast, positive factors such as social support and optimism have increased long-term survival chances.

When entering the study, women who reported coping with cancer by expressing their emotions had fewer medical appointments related to cancer, enhanced physical health and vigor, and decreased reported distress compared with women who reported low emotional expression. Other data showed that mortality rates were up to 25% higher in patients who experienced depressive symptoms, and up to 39% higher in patients who were diagnosed with major or minor depression.

Another study divided patients into two types, the first was characterized by emotional suppression especially negative emotions and the other type was someone who displayed their emotions.

The first "repressive" type showed a positive correlation with tumor thickness and unfavorable outcome, while the second "expressive" type showed a negative correlation with tumor thickness. Questionnaires revealed that cancer patients reported significantly more often concealing their emotions than benign control patients. One doctor concluded from his research that a stoic response in women and a hopeless response in men were significantly associated with an unfavorable outcome and that a favorable outcome was more frequent in people with fighting spirits.

From this data, we can see a clear correlation between how one deals with their emotions and their attitude toward the situation and how it affects one's health. Holding on to negative emotions can weaken one's immune response and increase sympathetic stimulation, all of which can lead to chronic disease and cancer.

fight or flight response

Western medicine falls short because it has a symptom-based approach to healthcare when it is clear that we need to treat a patient’s mind as well as their bodies. Relaxation and cognitive-behavioral techniques that boost negative moods have proven to help regulate hormonal activity and the autonomic response by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system in psycho-social interventions.

These interventions can help maximize treatment efficiency in addition to conventional therapies. One example is writing about your emotions, which is associated with improved mood, fewer health problems, and enhanced immune function. Other options that can help would be meditation, a sound familial support system, or group therapy—anything that will help to keep someone in positive spirits by giving them an outlet to express their emotions.

We hope that with continued advances in the field of neurology, we as a society will start to recognize just how important it is to care for a patient’s mental well-being. We want people being treated for chronic illness and cancer to realize that without taking the time to care for their mental health, recovery from their disease is virtually impossible.

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