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Last Updated: Apr 16, 2008 - 5:52:06 PM |
SATURDAY FEB 16, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Daily stress can reduce women's ability to fight off a common sexually transmitted disease, chronic exposure to which could lead to development of cervical cancer, according to a new study in the February issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
But no association was found between major life events such as divorce or job loss in the past and the body's response to the infection. Researchers do not know how to explain this.
The sexually transmitted disease of concern is HPV, short for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is spread during sexual intercourse. The majority of Americans will acquire the virus during their lifetime, but most of them clear it quickly without any medical intervention.
The most common subtype of the HPV virus is HPV16, which and other HPV subtypes can cause cervical cancer if the virus could not be cleared up quickly as in a small percentage of women whose immune response against the virus is not strong enough.
Carolyn Y. Fang, Ph.D. at Fox Chase Cancer Center and colleagues assumed stress could lead to alternations in immune functioning to a degree that makes the body unable to effectively clear the virus.
In the study, Fang and team examined potential associations between stress and immune response to HPV among women who had precancerous cervical lesions. The women were surveyed for their stress they experienced in the past month due to events such as divorce, death of a family member or loss of a job.
No association between the occurrence of major stressful life events and immune response to HPV15, the study showed. Fang explained it may be that time has relieved the stress or women have different ways to handle stress.
"Our findings about subjective daily stress told a different story, however. Women with higher levels of perceived stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response to HPV16. That means 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 causes it," Fang said.
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