Maybe we should all just chill...

[dentaltwin]

Interesting paper suggesting beta blockers may enhance effectiveness of radiation therapy:

medpagetoday.com/radiology/...

[Magnus1964]

Nice article, thanks for sharing.

[AlanMeyer Moderator]

Your chill suggestion sounds right. One paragraph says the following:

'Putting the findings into the context of cancer therapy, Singh told MedPage Today, "In the setting of cancer and cancer treatment, if you're under a lot of stress, and your beta-2 receptors are occupied with adrenaline and noradrenaline because you're stressed all the time, then that prevents the T cells from getting out of the tumor-draining lymph nodes, where they're growing and getting ready for battle and actually going into battle in the tumor."

Only cancer was investigated, but it sounds like stress control might apply to any illness, not just cancer.

Of course the worriers among us (few of us aren't in that group) will worry about whether they stopped worrying enough, or worry about worrying whether they've stopped worrying enough, or worry about ...

Alan

[dentaltwin in reply to AlanMeyer]

They seem to be thinking of beta blockers as a surrogate for emotional stress, and that's intuitive enough. I've known musical performers who use beta blockers for performance anxiety. I don't think it addresses anxiety per se; it lessens jitteriness and tremor. I'm sure there is plenty of literature connecting stress and immune function.