Optimism vs. Cancer

[SoundDust]

story here

A positive attitude does not improve the chances of surviving cancer and doctors who encourage patients to keep up hope may be burdening them, according to new research.

Optimism made no difference in the fate of most of the 179 cancer patients that researchers followed over five years in Australia.

Only eight people were still living by the time the study ended in 2001.

All the patients studied were suffering from a common form of lung cancer. Although the study was small and dealt with a kind of cancer that offers little chance for survival (about 12% of patients live beyond five years), health experts say it is the first scientifically valid look at optimism and cancer.

The results surprised researchers, who expected optimistic patients to live longer than their counterparts.

But patients are burdened by trying to maintain a positive outlook during their difficult situations, said researchers from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and five other health centres in an article published today in the journal Cancer.

 

[TheOrigDesperado]

This is like someone saying they've disproved the notion that positive thought can help heal injuries on the basis that the majority of people who'd been shotgunned in the head, poisoned then held underwater for 10 minutes did not recover. And to think these guys get paid for doing this... unbelievable.

 

[Anonymous]

why did the reserchers choose lung cancer,i had a close relative die of this in my mams old house.he had decided to die with some dignity.
it seems to me that if you have advanced lung cancer,that cannot be removed,youve absolutly no chance.ask any doctor.
so to base this so called reserch on this group is nothing less than scandalous.
at least the positive people were able to live out the little time they had left in a plesant manner and possible find peace within themselves before what would be there envitable end.

if this how some people must stoop to gain some sad so called scientific research ,well its not worth comenting on is it................

 

[Anonymous]

Big problem with this study. The physicians told the patients to remain optimistic, even though they only had a 1 in 10 chance of survival. Optimism is believing you'll be OK, not hoping you will be even though everything you see says otherwise. Cognitive Dissonance catches up on you like that.

 

[meanderer1]

Seems a very small study to me. I'm sure you can't reach conclusions like that from such a small number of subjects.
Anyway doesn't being optimistic add to your quality of life no matter how long it is going to be?

 

[inkedmagiclady]

IMHO Optimism cannot be "transmitted." Meaning just because the doctor tells you to keep your chin up, you aren't automatically going to do that.

Secondly, how did they measure this optimism they are talking about? How was that quantified, and how did they determine whether the patients were truly optimistic and not just paying lip service? By its very nature, optimism is subjective. Smoke that in your scientific pipe.


Say, then that certain patients were optimistic. This state of mind and attitude may not have saved their lives, but who is to say that these people did not leave this earth completely satisfied that they were clear with all the people they knew, and left this earth knowing they did the best they could? I for one would rather die that way than give up completely.

 

[meanderer1]

Been brooding about this all night. Seems to me that what they are saying is that if you are diagnosed with this particular sort of cancer you might as well give up all hope of recovery immediately. In my opinion this is likely to hasten your demise!

 

[rynner2]

We have many Cancer threads. It seems to me this is the most suitable one for this story - the patient is fairly optimistic about his condition, and he gave up smoking years ago:
Writer AA Gill diagnosed with 'the full English' of cancer

Restaurant critic AA Gill has revealed he has been diagnosed with the "full English" of cancers.
The illness prompted his engagement to his partner of 23 years, Nicola Formby, with whom he has two children.

Doctors found he had cancer, which has spread from his lungs to other parts of his body, after he went for an X-ray when people noticed he had lost weight.
Gill, 62, who is having chemotherapy, said he does not "feel cheated" and has been "very lucky" in his life.

The columnist, who is restaurant and TV critic for the Sunday Times, told the paper: "I've got an embarrassment of cancer, the full English.
"There is barely a morsel of offal not included. I have a trucker's gut-buster, gimpy, malevolent, meaty malignancy."

In an interview with the newspaper, he said he was prompted to visit the doctor after people noticed he had lost weight during a family holiday over the summer.
He also found it a struggle to complete his usual climb while stalking in Scotland and was suffering from a pain in his neck.
Doctors found he had a smoking-related cancer which had spread from his lungs - despite him giving up smoking 15 years ago.
The illness has meant he is unable to ride a bike because one tumour affects his balance and he has been banned from flying because he cannot risk infections.

Gill told readers of his column he was revealing his diagnosis because chemotherapy can alter the way things taste, adding: "If ever things start tasting like licked battery terminals, I'll tell you."

The writer, who was previously married to Home Secretary Amber Rudd and with whom he has two grown-up children, said he was "surprisingly excited" to be getting married again to Ms Formby.
He often refers to his partner as "The Blonde" in his restaurant reviews.

Gill told the Sunday Times he felt like he was given a "Willy Wonka golden ticket" to life after giving up drinking when he was 30 due to alcoholism.
"I realise I don't have a bucket list; I don't feel I've been cheated of anything," he said.

"I'd like to have gone to Timbuktu, and there are places I will be sorry not to see again.
"But actually, because of the nature of my life and the nature of what happened to me in my early life - my addiction, I know I have been very lucky."

Gill said he had visited a private doctor and paid for his own X-rays, but wanted to go back into the NHS because of the "connection it brings".
He told the newspaper: "My father would say he didn't want to die in the trench, and I don't want to die in a trench in Harley Street."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38042679

 

[Mythopoeika]

He's had a privileged life many can only dream of - so he's accepting it philosophically.

 

[Ermintruder]

I always rather liked his rude crits, back when I was still able to read Sunday papers.

I wish him well, but it will be an oddly-commented departure.

Is anyone else listening to the brave Steve Hewlett report upon his own cancer experiences, on Eddy Mair's "PM" Radio 4 show? Makes me nearly cry, every time I hear him. Horrible, horrible...

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Is anyone else listening to the brave Steve Hewlett report upon his own cancer experiences

I heard a couple of them some weeks ago. It makes me fear for the rest of us when someone so articulate, well-connected and organized has to struggle to find the right treatment for his condition.

Eddy Mair + Human Interest Story makes me reach for the off-switch pronto usually, however.

 

[Loquaciousness]

I am not surprised by this. One influencing factor on cancer survival rates does seem to be social support though.