Stress, Communication and Recovery

A report presented at the recent Experimental Biology 2001 conference in Orlando, Florida has concluded that extreme stress can cause memory loss and a lessened ability to learn new things.

In experiments with laboratory rats, Dr. David Diamond of the Tampa Veterans Affairs Hospital reported on a study evaluating the effect of extreme stress on rats' brains. They found that placing the rats in stressful environments (e.g. surrounded by cats), affected the electrical activity in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for holding onto information. Confirming their theory, the stressed-out rats were not able to remember a maze that they had previously mastered.

These findings add further credence to earlier studies which have demonstrated that patients faced with a difficult diagnosis often do not retain much of what is told to them in the doctor's office.

For example, an earlier report from the British Research Campaign found that stress surrounding a hospital patient's illness can severely impact what information they understand and retain. Professor Lesley Fallowfield from the Campaign's Psychosocial Oncology Group noted that hospital patients typically manage to remember just over 50 percent of the information they receive from doctors about their diagnosis and treatment.

Alarmingly, this figure drops to only 25 percent in cancer patients, as information of a more distressing nature raises patients' anxiety levels and reduces their ability to remember details.

Retaining What You Hear

Cancer specialists agree that patients can take at least the following minimum steps to ensure better communication with their physician:

• When you are going to meet your doctor or nurse, bring someone else with you. It helps to have another person listen to what is being said and to think of questions to ask during the consultation.
• Write out your questions beforehand to make sure that you don't forget to discuss anything.
• Write down the answers you get, and make sure you understand what you are hearing.
• Don't be afraid to ask your questions. And if you feel you are not receiving adequate answers to your concerns, don't hesitate to ask where you can find more information.

Stress and the Immune System

A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that the stress of being diagnosed with breast cancer can actually impact a woman's immune system and possibly her ability to recover from the disease.

Barbara Andersen, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Ohio State University in Columbus, studied 116 newly diagnosed women with breast cancer. She found that those with the greatest stress levels had reductions in three important measures of immune-cell activity, compared with women who reported lower stress levels.

Researchers believe stress may cause the immune system to release hormones that alter the function of disease-fighting immune cells. Stress may also increase a person's smoking or drinking habits, or cause a loss of sleep, all of which may impair immune function.

SOURCES:
Experimental Biology 2001 conference, Orlando, Florida
British Research Campaign (http://www.crc.org.uk)
European Journal of Cancer, December 22, 1999; 4:35
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1999; 91:1480-1486

[Table of Contents] [ Archived Issues / Search]