'Stress can double breast cancer risk'

Women were warned today that stress can double the risk of breast cancer.

Scientists have uncovered strong evidence that women who regularly suffer from anxiety and tension are more likely to develop the disease.

The link emerged after a 24-year study in Sweden into the effects of stress on health.

The investigation, the first of its kind, involved almost 1,500 women and began in 1968 when all the women were healthy.

Over the next 24 years, they underwent several medical examinations and were asked detailed questions about their education, whether they smoked or drank, how much they exercised, and if and when they had children.

The women were also quizzed about stress levels and whether they had experienced stressrelated symptoms including fear, anxiety and lack of sleep.

They were then put into one of six categories, ranging from no stress to constant stress for the past five years.

The results reveal that while 2.5 per cent of women with stress-free lives went on to develop breast cancer, more than five per cent of those who suffered from anxiety and tension got the disease.

Today the research team described the link as "significant", and claimed it could not be explained by variations in the women's class, education, or medical history.

Dr Osten Helgesson, of the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden, who led the research, said: "Our study shows a significant association between stress and breast cancer. This was independent of factors such as alcohol, body mass, education and maternal history of cancer."

About a third of the women in the study said they suffered from stress. But they were not told that researchers were investigating the link between breast cancer and stress - making it less likely that their answers would be biased.

The findings, to be unveiled at the European Cancer Conference in Denmark today, will worry women who regularly suffer from anxiety and sleepless nights because of the pressure of work and family.

Last year, an ICM survey found that half of career women are so stressed they do not take a proper lunchbreak or their full holiday entitlement.

A survey this year found career women spent up to 2.5 hours a day worrying about work.

Doctors are unclear exactly how stress affects the body. But research shows that even mildly stressful situations, such as battling through traffic, can cause heart rates to soar by 50 per cent.

The latest study does not reveal how much stress is needed to raise the risk of cancer, and the

Swedish team said that larger studies must now be carried out.

Today, other experts also said more work was needed. Professor Amanda Ramirez, of Cancer Research UK, said: "The researchers did not use any objective measure of stress - they simply asked women how stressed they felt. This could affect the findings."