"I lost my mother, my father's going through cancer. A lot of stress. Operating two different businesses. Plus I'm a realtor,"
said Linda Leghorn, cancer patient.
Forty one-year-old Linda Leghorn says the past couple of years have been crushingly stressful and says she sensed it was making her sick. It turns out she was right. In september this mother of two was diagnosed with stage four lung and liver cancer. "They told me there really wasn't much they could do for me. I had probably two to four months to live."
Now researchers say Linda's sense that stress would lead to illness was right on.
Doctors from Yale say emotional stress triggers mutated cells to ban together and turn cancerous.
So can physical stress like a wound or inflammation.
Oncologist Shayma Kazmi, says she's not surprised by the new findings. "We knew stress affected cancer, caused cancer, had bad outcomes with cancer."
In additional to traditional treatment, Dr. Kazmi's patients are taught stress reduction and are evaluated for drugs or supplements to aid stress relief.
Dr. Kazmi says the new research is helpful, but worries that some people with cancer could begin to blame themselves for the disease. "I think it's very important to let patients know that what's happened has happened -- but for now you can still make a difference in what may happen next -- if you can take a positive outlook and reduce some stress."
"I'm gonna beat it. I'm gonna fight it and I'm gonna beat it," added Leghorn.
Linda says her cancer is responding well to treatment. She plans to make big changes when she's healthy. "Watch the sunsets more. Get up and watch the sunrises more."
Dr. Kazmi also believes stress can result from missed meals. She says if you want to work at being stress-free, don't allow yourself to get too hungry.
