Marriage Benefits May Extend to Cancer Survival

While searching the internet for cancer news, one article kept popping up that I just had to read. It was titled “Marriage Benefits May Extend to Cancer Survival.” Wait one minute, not drugs but Marriage!

 

In this article, it is stated that married people with cancer are about 20% less likely to die over a three year period compared to unmarried people with cancer. Also, married people with cancer were 17% less likely have metastatic cancer, this is suggests that their cancer is being caught at an earlier stage and receiving the appropriate treatment. This may seem crazy, but my mom did decide to get checked out after my dad was diagnosed with cancer and she was diagnosed with 0 stage breast cancer. The support from my dad did cause her to get the appropriate treatment early, so this study can have some truth. The reason why being married is a benefit, is because they have more social support, someone to share the burden of their diagnosis which may reduce depression and anxiety.  

 

This can study suggest that is not just marriage but increased of social support to people will cancer could benefit their health. Friends or loved ones or someone who cares can potentially make a difference in the outcome by going with the patient to the doctor and treatments.

 

The researcher analyzed information from 734,800 people who were diagnosed with cancer between 2004 and 2008. After taking into account factors that could affect patient survival, such as age, income and cancer stage, married people between 12% and 33%  are less likely to die from cancer than those who were not married.

 

Survival benefits linked with marriage were greater than that linked with chemotherapy. This of course does not insinuate that you should not get chemotherapy, but suggest the strength of the potential benefits of social support. Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital said there are other differences between married and unmarried people, but unmarried people may be more likely to engage in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors that could contribute to their increased risk of mortality.

 

This is not a study telling patients not to take treatment but an encouragement to get support from people who care. If you were diagnosed with cancer tomorrow, would you have a support system to help you with the burden and make sure you get what you need?  Should hospitals supply more than just a support group or support systems for those who are going through treatment? If a loved one or a friend was to call you up and needed you help with their treatment, would you help if you knew some way it could help them survive?

 

Here is the article if you would like to read about this study:

http://www.livescience.com/39866-marriage-cancer-survival.html