Sleep can be `Weapon Against Cancer

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Sleep can be `Weapon Against Cancer`

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good night's sleep may be a potent weapon against cancer, a leading scientist

has said.

Professor David Spiegel, from Stanford University Medical Center in California,

has pieced together evidence suggesting that sleep can help cancer recovery.

He pointed out that how people sleep can seriously alter the balance of hormones

in their bodies, which in turn may influence cancer progression.

One study found that women at high risk of breast cancer had a shifted cortisol

cycle. Cortisol is a hormone which normally reaches peak levels at dawn and then

declines during the day.

It is one of many hormones that help regulate the immune system, including the

activity of cells that help the body fight cancer.

A cortisol rhythm thrown off by troubled sleep could make a person more

cancer-prone, said Prof Spiegel.

Another hormone called melatonin, pumped out by the brain during sleep, was an

anti-oxidant capable of preventing damage to DNA that can lead to cancer.

In women melatonin also slowed production of oestrogen, which can spur cancerous

breast and ovarian cancers to keep dividing.

Recent research showed that female night shift workers had higher rates of

breast cancer than women who slept normal hours.

Prof Spiegel said: " I'd like people to reconceptualise cancer as a biological

event that triggers stress responses affecting how the disease progresses.

 

 

 

 

 

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