The role of stress and psychological pressures in the development of breast cancer

Stress and mental problems and mental pressures have a direct effect on the body and can cause various diseases and aggravate existing diseases. One of the diseases that may occur or worsen due to stress is cancer, including breast cancer. In fact, the occurrence of stressful conditions for a person causes the production of hormones in the body, which disrupts the immune system and provides the basis for the occurrence of various diseases. The most common cancer among women is breast cancer, and the age of this common cancer among Iranian women is ۵ to ۱۰ years lower than the global age of this disease. The risk factors of breast cancer, as experts say, are family history of cancer, first pregnancy. Over ۳۰ years old, menstruation under ۱۲ years old, menopause over ۵۵ years old, no pregnancy, no breastfeeding and hormone therapy after menopause, but these days, much attention is paid to the relationship between stress and various diseases, especially types of cancer.Any disturbance in the functioning of the body under the influence of an event or threat is called stress. Its occurrence in the body can cause changes in the release of hormones and the body's defense system. Stress gradually affects the body's immune system and disrupts the body's defense system, and the result can cause the growth of cancer cells in the body, because the defense system becomes weak in dealing with the proliferation of these cells. . Based on this, stress can be the initiator of cancer. Cancer cells are regularly formed in the body every day, but they are collected from the body according to a certain order, facing stress and life problems can disrupt this order. Another body system whose function can change under the influence of stress and psychological factors affecting it is the system of glands and hormones. Different forms of stress and emotional responses that each person shows when faced with various environmental conditions cause the release of adrenocorticotropic from the hypothalamus and corticosteroids from the adrenal glands, which weaken the immune system and reduce its function. It should be noted that the intensity of stress suffered by a person, as well as the personality characteristics of a person, are effective in the degree of communication and impact of stress on cancer. are cancer For example, when faced with stress, people tend to consume more alcohol or smoke. From a biological point of view, it seems that stress is considered as a stimulating factor for the growth and metastasis of breast cancer. When a person is under stress, a hormone called norepinephrine is released. Norepinephrine, in turn, may cause the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and accelerate metastasis.