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September 15, 2009
Study suggests depression may be linked to increased death rate among patients with cancer.
BBC News (9/14) reports that, according to a study in the journal Cancer, "Depression can damage a cancer patient's chances of survival."
Researchers conducted "a review of 26 separate studies including 9,417 patients," finding that "death rates were up to 25 percent higher in patients showing symptoms of depression." In fact, "in patients actually diagnosed with major or minor depression death rates were up to 39 percent higher." Notably, "the increased risks remained even after other clinical characteristics that might affect survival were taken into consideration."
Related Links:
- Depression 'cuts cancer survival' ," BBC News, September 14, 2009.
Posted by admin at September 15, 2009 04:49 PM