Turns out that ‘don’t worry, be happy’ might not be the best medicine

September 29th, 2009 | Category: Feature, The Joy Habit | One comment

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Well – if you are getting too much UV radiation and potentially developing squamous cell carcinoma anyway. A study at the Stanford Cancer Center and Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection suggests that periods of short-term stress can boost the immune system temporarily and help protect against cancer cell development. The effect lasts for over 20 weeks but then fades away. The test was performed on mice subjected to confined space stress versus mice in a normal environment.

The researchers were surprised by the results since it is commonly believed that stress leads to a lower performing immune system.

However, it should be pointed out that the test was performed on mice – all of which were living in a relatively artificial environment.