Women with the BRCA gene cope better with their situation when they are taught anti-stress techniques, which helps them make important treatment decisions.
- When several members of the same family have the same cancer, it may be a hereditary cancer due to a gene mutation.
- In the case of breast or ovarian cancer, it can be a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.
It’s hard to live with the BRCA gene, which led actress Angelina Jolie to have her breasts and ovaries removed to avoid developing cancer. To help women carrying this mutation, which strongly predisposes them to the development of tumours, researchers have decided to put them on stress reduction therapy, which has clearly proven to be beneficial on several levels.
Non-pharmacological interventions
They justify their actions as follows: “the elevated risk of breast and ovarian cancer conferred by carrying a germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 variant can negatively impact physical and psychological well-being” women, they write. “Novel non-pharmacological interventions on the well-being of women with BRCA variants have rarely been tested so far”, they add.
To do this, they included in a study cohort 100 women carrying the BRCA gene. For twelve weeks, 50 followed exercises intended to reduce their stress, and 50 others continued to live normally.
Better sleep
At the end of the experiment, the group following the anti-stress program obtained better average scores for all the following parameters of psychological well-being: personal fulfillment (73 vs 65.76); increase in the number of positive relationships (71.17 vs 65.06); setting goals in life (67.57 vs 61.18) and self-acceptance (66.93 vs 58.09). People following the therapy also saw their sleep improve.
“After the intervention, participants who followed the BRSI* had a more favorable opinion of ovariectomy and mastectomy reducing the risks”, complete the researchers. And to conclude: “These results suggest that the IBSR method can be used as a tool to improve the psychological well-being of women with BRCA variants and help them consider risk reduction surgery.”
*”Inquiry Based Stress Reduction”, an anti-stress therapy called “Inquiry Based Stress Reduction”.
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