United States: A recent research unveiled that despondency significantly diminishes a woman’s likelihood of enduring breast cancer.
Researchers discerned that women afflicted with both breast cancer and despondency exhibit over a threefold increase in mortality risk compared to those devoid of either disease, according to the reports by HealthDay News.
Conversely, individuals grappling solely with breast cancer present a 45 percent elevated mortality risk relative to their healthy counterparts.
“The amalgamation of these conditions markedly escalates the mortality risk and results in a substantial reduction in life expectancy,” asserted lead investigator Jagdish Khubchandani, a public health sciences professor at New Mexico State University.
“Our investigation revealed that the simultaneous occurrence of despondency further impairs survival rates among women battling breast carcinoma,” Khubchandani elaborated in a university communiqué. “Regrettably, numerous women contending with breast carcinoma do not receive prompt or adequate mental health intervention for issues like despondency,” as per HealthDay.
The study scrutinized data from over 4,700 women aged 45 and older, with approximately 5 percent diagnosed with breast carcinoma and nearly 13 percent experiencing despondency. The participants were monitored for roughly eight years.
“Currently, over 4 million American women are living with breast cancer, and this year, more than 250,000 will receive a diagnosis,” Khubchandani noted. “Tragically, a significant portion of these women endure despondency, compromised mental well-being, and a diminished quality of life.”
Findings indicated that specific demographics, including those with lower income or education levels, racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals with other chronic illnesses or detrimental lifestyles, are more predisposed to concurrent despondency and breast carcinoma.
The recent study was disseminated in the journal Brain Sciences, according to reports by HealthDay News.
The research underscored the necessity for providing mental health support to women undergoing treatment for breast carcinoma.
“Throughout our lives, we will all encounter someone with breast cancer,” Khubchandani remarked. “Regrettably, they are likely to suffer from poor psychological health or a reduced quality of life, partly due to the absence of a holistic healthcare approach for women with carcinoma.”