According to a survey of the public's knowledge of what causes and what does not cause cancer, half of Britons mistakenly believe that stress can lead to cancer, although there has been no evidence to support this belief. The results from the survey by YouGov for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), reveal that out of 2,070 adults questioned, 50% stated that they think stress increases your risk of getting cancer.
Although the WCRF are adamant that there is no evidence to back up that stress can cause cancer, they said, “People under stress can sometimes behave in unhealthy ways, such as smoking, overeating or drinking heavily, which do increase their risk of many cancers. If you're under stress, it's important to try to find other ways of coping, such as doing physical activity.”
In its public information. Cancer Research UK (CRUK) states, “Stressful events can alter the levels of hormones in the body and affect the immune system... there is no evidence that these changes could lead to cancer. It has been suggested that stress can cause cancer, particularly breast cancer. But the evidence for this has been poor. While a few studies have found a link, they have often only looked at a small number of participants or asked women to recall if they were stressed before they developed the disease, which isn't a reliable way of measuring stress.”
