Stress weakens immune response to HPV
This is news, that stress can weaken immune response? Researchers were looking for reasons why HPV persists in some women, leading to cervical cancer. This story is from BBC News
Stress may hit cancer virus fight
A stressful life may make it tougher to fight the virus which causes the majority of cervical cancer cases, say scientists.
HPV is a sexually transmitted infection – but only a small percentage of women who catch it develop cancer.
US researchers, writing in the journal Annals of Behavioural Medicine, said that stressed women had a weaker immune response to the virus.
It is already known that the way the body’s immune system reacts when confronted with HPV – short for human papillomavirus – can determine whether the infection causes more serious problems.
Many women appear able to “clear” the virus from their bodies, while in others it can cause a persistent infection which raises the risk of the abnormal cell changes which can eventually lead to cancer.
The latest study, carried out at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, looked for reasons why, in some women, the immune system is unable to clear the virus.
The researchers found that the immune response was poorer among women who reported higher levels of day-to-day stress.
However, there was no correlation between immune response and the number of major events.
No cause
Dr Carolyn Fang, who led the study, said: “Women with higher levels of perceived stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response to HPV16.
“That means that women who report feeling more stressed could be at greater risk of developing cervical cancer because their immune system can’t fight off one of the most common viruses that cause it.”
The researchers admitted, however, that the design of the study meant that it was impossible to look for proof that stress actually caused the immune response, rather than just accompanied it.
A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said that more research would be needed to prove the link.
“We already know that an effective immune response against certain forms of HPV can guard against cervical cancer – this knowledge helped to spearhead the development of cervical cancer vaccines targeting this virus.
“This small study does not provide conclusive evidence that a stressful life directly suppresses the immune system and increases the risk of cervical cancer.
“More work would be needed before we know if there is a relationship between stress levels and the ability to fight HPV infection.”
Why would HPV infection be different from any other disease in that respect? There is virtually no doubt that overstress compromises the immune system. Some people handle stress better than others, but to say more work needs to be done to establish the detrimental effects of stress on the immune system is absurd on its face. It may not be the determining factor as to whether the immune system can kill off HPV, but overstress certainly will make that more difficult. The immune system is already under tremendous stress from all the toxins in the environment. An overly stressful life can only exacerbate that. This is a no-brainer.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:17 am
it is good to know that at least the HPV Vaccine can prevent most cases of Cervical Cancer.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
That is the theory. It is not known, and probably will not be known for at least a quarter century. I am more than a little skeptical of that claim. Meanwhile, another girl died for that theory a couple of weeks ago.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Oh no it cannot, arthritispain. The HPV vaccine can “protect”, at best, up to about 70 percent in only four variants of the HPV. There are about 16 of those viruses that may contribute to cervical cancer. When it is protecting, it can do that for only about three years. It takes about 25 years for cervical cancer to develop.
A woman’s body will usually clear HPV naturally, several times through out her life. And when it is not naturally taken care of, a PAP will catch any cervical abnormalities. In fact, too well. Because often surgeons will treat when the abnormality is only hormonally caused, or a reaction to bath products, or a fungus, or an inflammation somewhere in the body, or her partner’s STD.
I needed at that Gardasil thread on WS last week. Damn.
October 14th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
I have several blog entries here about Gardasil, though with over 500 articles in my news section, they are not so easy to find. The blog needs an new organization scheme. The comment from arthritispain might have been spam, but I decided to approve it anyway. I blogged about this particular story to show how clueless the medical orthodoxy is, making a big deal out of finding that excessive stress has a deleterious effect on immune response to HPV. Hello, this is not news, excessive stress has all kinds of bad effects, what planet are these researchers living on?
October 14th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
The planet of funded research for a Xanax clone, which will have a new PATENT, and be touted to relieve stress.
I’ll search through for your gardasil stash. Thanks I didn’t know there was such info here.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Further to that post from arthritispain, and to correct my *overstatement* about the possible good effects of Gardasil:
“Gardasil is a vaccination administered to prevent four strains of the human papillomavirus virus, or HPV. Two of the strains of HPV have the potential to cause genital warts and two of the strains have the potential to cause cervical cancer. The vaccine is administered in a three-shot series.”
Wichita mom blames HPV vaccine for her daughter’s terminal illness
http://www.kansasliberty.com/liberty-update-archive/2009/19oct/wichita-mom-speaks-at-national-conference-about-daughters-health-condition-after-recieving-hpv-vaccination/
January 13th, 2010 at 4:49 am
i am now more careful about having unprotected sex because my bestfriend got infected with HPV last year. it was a horrible and painful experience for her.