Till death do us part.A husband who copes poorly with stress may inadvertently help speed the progression of his wife's breast cancer, according to according toprep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study directed by David Spiegel of Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is affiliated with Stanford University and is located at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, California, adjacent to Palo Alto and Menlo Park. . Spiegel's group studied 31 couples recruited for a study of the effects of psychotherapy on women's breast cancer survival. Women whose husbands initially exhibited high concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol cortisol (kôr`tĭsôl') or hydrocortisone, steroid hormone that in humans is the major circulating hormone of the cortex, or outer layer, of the adrenal gland. in their saliva died at a markedly higher rate over a period of up to 4 years. Elevated cortisol may reflect the stress caused by a husband's difficulty in dealing with his wife's life-threatening condition and in providing her with effective emotional support, Spiegel and his coworkers propose. This biological reaction may also accompany a husband's anticipation of bereavement Bereavement Definition Bereavement refers to the period of mourning and grief following the death of a beloved person or animal. The English word bereavement , which begins years before his wife dies, the researchers contend. |
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