Maggie's

Humour and helping fight cancer

Humour Helps you fight your cancer

During my recent forrays into how state of mind can improve your immune system and assist a disfunctional system caused by CLL for example, I was surprised as to how there may be physiological benefits to all cancer patients, as well as the obvious mental benefits. So I have borrowed some of this thinking that is helping me and can see how much of this will help us during the turmoil we face. 

Keep up a good supply of jokes, books, funny DVDs, etc to help you through the next couple of months. Ask family and friends to help keep your spirits up.

Humour gives us heart. Humour gives us hope. Humour is a lamp that dispels the shadows cast by illness – Robert Holden.

Anything is possible. If one person can get over an awful prognosis, others can too. But in that situation, you can’t allow yourself too many negative thoughts. You need to be around people who keep you positive, who love you and care about you. Keep up your sense of humour, it will help to get you through anything that comes along.

In all the research on humour over the last few years, the studies have shown that humour and the positive emotions – love, faith, purpose, determination, the will-to-live, and hope- are a powerful biochemical prescription for dispelling foreboding and despair, and the deep feelings of apprehension and panic that accompany serious illness. Humour radically stimulates the whole immune system, significantly increasing immunoglobulins and T cells, B cells, Natural Killer cells (which seek out and destroy cancer cells) and Cytokine Gamma Interferon (which inhibit tumour growth). Humour boosts the whole immune system.

The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease –Voltaire.

Negative emotions – fear, misery, panic, anger, depression and anxiety- make people feel helpless and hopeless and dampen down the immune system.

Positive emotions, humour and optimism also release endorphins and enkephalins, which are the body’s natural painkillers and regulate the immune system and tumour growth.

Studies also show that cancer patients with humour and a fighting spirit are most likely to be long-term survivors and have no relapses. So, see, you’re there already!

Nick and a few others