Psycho-oncology: Psychological Help for Patients with Cancer

By Juan Moisés De La Serna

Book description:

In this e-book, the problem of cancer is approached from a psychological point of view. Psycho-oncology is the name of the branch of psychology dealing with cancer.

For this purpose, the latest research results on the topic are introduced in such a way that patients and their families can learn about the last findings with regards to the psychological aspects of cancer, its onset, development, and treatment.

This reference e-book can help readers put one of the most common diseases today into perspective.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Dec 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781547511372

Book preview

Introduction

This eBook addresses the problem of cancer as a disease from the psychological point of view, which is the object of study of Psycho-oncology.

For this purpose, latest research related to this subject is presented, so that patients and their relatives can learn about the most recent findings related to the psychological aspects of the onset, maintenance, and treatment of cancer.

This is a reference book that is intended to help put one of the most common diseases today in perspective.

Index

Chapter 1. Cell Regeneration Rate

Chapter 2. Triggering Factors for Cancer

Chapter 3. Cancer and Stress

Chapter 4. Cancer and its relationship with Psychology

Chapter 5. The role of Psycho-oncologists

Conclusions

Dedicated to my parents

Acknowledgements

I would like to use the opportunity to thank all those who contributed to the creation of this text, notably D. Ricardo Lopez, a cancer researcher at Inmunostep, who delivers a general perspective on the advances that have taken place during the last years, both regarding detection, and treatment of cancer. I would also like to thank Dr. Adriana Terradez, Business Developer at BioSequence, who comments on the role of genetics in overall health, and Dr. Isabel Crespo Pena, Technical Director, Clinical and Health Psychologist, and Psycho-oncologist at OMEGA PSICOLOGIA, who comments on the role of the Psycho-oncologist.

Chapter 1. Cell Regeneration Rate

As living organisms, nature has a significant influence on every individual, mainly due to its cycles, which span from the shortest to the longest. From the circadian (24 hours), the Lunar (29 days), or the seasonal (4 seasons, to the annual (365 days).

Each one of these has its incidence in the organism, particularly in the endocrine system, which is responsible for the segregation of hormones that directly affect the mood, and that are involved in other essential functions such as growth. All of this also has an impact on the humor and in concentration, which, in its turn, affects the mental performance, and the social relations.

Perhaps, one of the least evident phenomena, which is produced cyclically in the organism, and without which it would not be possible to survive, is cellular regeneration. It consists in the process through which new cells are created so that they substitute old cells. So, thanks to cellular regeneration, the body repairs itself by replacing former cells, which have completed their life cycle.

This process, which develops in all living creatures in nature, repeats itself ceaselessly, from birth to the end of life, even if its speed becomes slower with the aging process.

New cells are produced, both in external tissue, such as hair, nails, and skin, and in internal tissue, such as mucous membranes, muscle, bone, and blood. All this leads to the renewal of all cells in the body approximately every 7 to 10 years.

Each type of cell regenerates at a different speed, and this process occurs faster in external tissue as compared to the internal. Thus, epidermis, the outer layer of the skin, renews every 30 days while red blood cells regenerate every 120 days, and those of the liver take 300 to 500 days to do the same.

Until relatively recent times, it was believed that the body had two types of cells that did not regenerate in the organism: neurons in the brain, and heart cells.

Recent findings indicate that both regenerate, but at an entirely lower speed, compared to the rest. They open new lines of research that could be applied in the process of recovery of patients with myocardial infarction, in the case of the heart cells.  The same applies to patients with brain injury or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer, for brain cells.

But there is a lot to do first because it is still necessary to overcome a small but yet significant obstacle, which is the limitation of size in telomeres. Telomeres are the extremes of the chromosomes, and they seem to set the future for every organism since birth, according to a study held by the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, in England. The results of this study were published in the scientific journal, Molecular Ecology.

The authors of the studio have demonstrated that the length of the telomeres is strongly related to the life expectancy of the individuals. Shorter telomeres are related to a more significant risk of premature death.

This telomere's length is determined at birth and, therefore, it is possible to state that death is programmed.

This is similar to what happens to electrical appliances that are pre-programmed to last for a given amount of time, after which their programming causes the malfunctioning of some of their components. This eventually leads to the devices' complete