Busy Social Life Holds key to Fighting Cancer

Socializing is good for health - in fact, it may even help fight cancer, says a new study.

An international team has carried out the study and found that socializing with others aid in fight against cancer as the stress of interaction causes tumors to shrink and even go into remission. Cancer patients who change their life style to keep company with more people could see substantial improvements in their condition, says the study.

According to researchers, the findings challenge accepted wisdom that stress is damaging to health, indicating that a manageable level of stress can help the body fight disease, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Matthew During of the Ohio State University, who led the experiments on mice, said that the results had substantial implications for how people with cancer should live after diagnosis. Doctors should pay more attention to living conditions of their patients, rather than relying on traditional clinical treatments like surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He was quoted as saying "The goal isn't to minimize stress, but to live a richer life, social and physically. You want to be challenged.

In their study, the researchers found that moving mice with cancer from their standard laboratory lodgings - where they live in groups of five - to more spacious accommodation shared with up to 20 other rodents had a significant positive effect on the progress of their condition. Their tumors shrunk in weight by an average of 77% while 5% of the mice showed no evidence of cancer after three weeks.

The mice's "enriched" environment also included more space them exercise and toys with which to play, but the researchers identified the stress of socializing as the key factor in suppressing the cancers.

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