GRONINGEN (ANP) – People who suffer from depression or anxiety do not have an increased risk of developing cancer later on. There is no connection between the complaints, researchers at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) have found. Their conclusions are published in the scientific journal Cancer.
The Groningen scientists looked at the data of more than 300,000 people from the Netherlands, Great Britain, Norway and Canada. The patients were followed for years to see how their health developed. It showed that having a depression or an anxiety disorder did not lead to a higher risk of, for example, breast cancer, prostate cancer or colorectal cancer.
There may be a slightly higher risk for lung cancer, but this effect is dwarfed by the danger of, for example, smoking, alcohol consumption or overweight. “Our results may come as a relief to many cancer patients who believe their diagnosis is attributed to previous anxiety or depression,” said Lonneke van Tuijl of the UMCG in a statement.
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2023-08-12 10:04:26
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