Attitude Matters
An article in the journal Cancer has added to the growing body of evidence that a positive attitude can have a wide range of benefits throughout cancer treatment and recovery.
Researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston set out to determine what role, if any, an optimistic attitude would have on levels of depression, mood disturbance and distress in cancer patients. The study team, led by Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., found that those patients with a positive outlook toward the potential success of their treatment experienced significantly lower levels of depression and distress.
"Previous research has shown that cancer patients often overestimate the likelihood that they will achieve a positive response," they wrote. "However, maintaining optimistic expectations may help patients cope with a poor prognosis and uncertain outcome."
The researchers assessed the emotional outlook and wellbeing of 24 patients with renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. The majority of the patients believed that the treatment would either cure them (87 percent) or stop the progression of their disease (85 percent). However, while their positive outlook may have been overly optimistic in some cases, it nonetheless contributed to emotional stability and a better ability to cope.
"The results of the current study suggest that high levels of treatment-specific optimism are associated with better mental health outcomes at both the beginning and end of treatment," they concluded.
These findings support a growing body of research suggesting a link between attitude and health. For example, one study found that breast cancer patients who felt "helpless" were more likely to die within five years than their proactive counterparts. Another study linked optimism with a longer life and slower progression of symptoms among men who are HIV positive.
More recently, a study of stroke victims by Scottish researchers found that those who feel pessimistic or hopeless about their recovery may in fact die sooner than more optimistic patients.
Writing in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, Dr. S. C. Lewis of Western General Hospital in Edinburgh and colleagues reported on their study of 372 stroke patients. Of those who felt the most fatalistic, 79 percent were more likely to die over 5 years than patients with more hopeful attitudes-regardless of the severity of stroke, age or the presence of other diseases.
Similarly, patients who survived a stroke but said they still felt helpless were 58 percent more likely to die compared to those with more hopeful attitudes.
SOURCES:
Cancer, May 4, 2001; 10:1949-1955
Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, July 2001
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