Continuum Wellness News » cancer patients http://continuumwellness.org/blog Body, Mind & Soul Wellness Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:40:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Optimism Helps Cancer Patients http://continuumwellness.org/blog/2008/08/28/optimism-helps-cancer-patients/ http://continuumwellness.org/blog/2008/08/28/optimism-helps-cancer-patients/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:02:18 +0000 continuum wellness http://continuumwellness.org/blog/?p=550 New research indicates that cancer patients who are optimistic can better manage pain. Having a sense of mastery enables a cancer patient to reduce pain. This however is not new knowledge. We all know intrinsically that the ability to smile and to face adversity with inner strength is ultimately an essential skill we all need. And such a skill will help one to master life’s challenges of which an illness may be one.

Anyone who can use their mind in a way to maintain optimism is wise indeed.

“These findings underscore the need for physicians and nurses involved in the care of cancer patients to recognize, encourage, promote, and take advantage of these traits in their patients to help them more effectively manage their cancer care, so that they ultimately can achieve a better quality of life,” Dr. Margot E. Kurtz and colleagues from Michigan State University in East Lansing, the study’s authors, conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, July 2008.

]]> http://continuumwellness.org/blog/2008/08/28/optimism-helps-cancer-patients/feed/ 1