More true 丨 "C personality" is prone to cancer? Does personality have anything to do with cancer?

True points:

1, there is such a saying: C personality is prone to cancer. However, this was originally only a hypothesis with no evidence, and after "word of mouth" on the Internet, it seems to have become a conclusion.

2. Studies on personality have shown that there is no personality that has a clear correlation with the overall incidence and mortality of cancer. Although some epidemiological studies may find that a certain personality will be associated with the occurrence of a certain cancer, the correlation does not represent a causal relationship and needs to be properly understood.

Verifier: A section of ginger 丨 drug researcher, popular science creator

There is a saying that the C personality is prone to cancer. The search literature found that people with type C personality have some characteristics: willing to cooperate, insecure, patient, easy to suppress negative emotions (especially anger), and willing to accept authoritative opinions. There are theories that people with this personality are prone to cancer, so they use the initial letter C of Cancer in English to name this personality.

"Type C personality is prone to cancer" is just a theory, or is there any evidence?

First, the C personality is prone to cancer: this is just a hypothesis!

The so-called C personality is prone to cancer evidence, from such a statement: "There are 40% to 80% of common cancer patients, with often suppress bad emotions, good sullenness, easy to anger and other C-type behavior characteristics", some people see that there are numbers, thinking that there is evidence, can support the "C personality is prone to cancer" This statement.

There is also a saying that the proportion of C personality in cancer patients is 75%, so it is concluded that the risk of C personality developing cancer is 3 times that of other types!

Numbers are important, but how numbers come about is more important! Providing only a number, without any index of research literature, can basically be considered to be a full mouth running a train, not reliable at all.

It's like saying that a drug is 100% effective, but there is no evidence of clinical trials at all, and it can only be regarded as a false advertisement.

If this number really comes from a certain study, can it be "better to believe that it has it"? It depends on how the research is done. If you directly investigate cancer patients, it is very unreliable, because after getting cancer, many people's mood will be greatly affected, and it is easy to apply to the C-type personality.

It's like running to the train to do an investigation about whether you can buy a train ticket, can you believe the conclusion?

Second, is there any relationship between personality and cancer?

The relationship between personality and cancer has indeed always been a concern, so there are really some studies. In this regard, more than 30 years ago, British psychologists Grosssarth-Maticek and Eysenck developed a scoring standard, according to how a person copes with stress, and then divided into the following six personality types according to the scoring results, some of which are believed to have a tendency to develop multiple diseases such as cancer:

A: "Not impulsive" type, these people have a tendency to suppress emotions, often feel helpless, and therefore have a tendency to depression, there is chronic glucocorticoid elevation, leading to immunosuppression, so early is considered to be a possible "susceptible to cancer" population.

Type B: The "conformity" type is often in a situation where there is no initiative. When something goes wrong, they are surprisingly angry and aggressive, which is typical of anger. This personality is thought to cause cardiovascular problems (increased blood pressure, increased heart rate) and prone to diseases such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Type C: "Swing type", that is, the continuous transition between type A and type B mentioned above, when faced with a problem, this type of person may feel helpless, may feel angry, or sway between the two feelings.

Type D: "Master type", often showing autonomy, able to self-regulate their own behavior, because they do not experience the reaction of type A and type B personalities to stress, so they are considered to be healthy personalities.

Type E: "Rational type", which has the same characteristics of emotional suppression as type A, but this type of person has more "rational" characteristics and is considered predisposed to depression and possibly cancer.

Self type: "Antisocial" type, often showing impulsive, rebellious and hostile behavior, with a tendency to drug addiction.

The "C-type personality" mentioned above belongs to the A and E types of these six personalities. But will these people have a tendency to develop diseases? "Forward-looking" research is needed, for example, in the case of people who have not yet boarded the train, to conduct a survey of whether they can buy a ticket.

In 2007, a 12-year follow-up survey of 14,445 Frenchmen was published. At the beginning of the survey, the respondents were all healthy people, but after 12 years, no higher cancer mortality rates were found in people with A and E personalities. At the same time, as a healthy type of D personality, it was thought that it was possible to actively adjust the mentality, but people who did not see this personality have reduced cancer mortality.

However, this study did find that the cardiovascular disease mortality rate of the B type "angry youth" personality did increase significantly, 3.1 times that of the average person, while the D personality did have a lower mortality rate of cardiovascular disease and a 60% reduction in risk. At the same time, the mortality rate caused by accidents and suicides of the self-type personality is very high, and the risk is 3.4 times that of the average person.

Another study, which followed the above-mentioned French population for 16 years, looked at the incidence of cancer and concluded that the risk of breast cancer in the A personality has not increased, but has decreased. For E personality, the risk of prostate, breast, colorectal, or smoking-related cancers was not seen, but the risk of developing other cancers increased by 17 percent.

How effective is this theory of type 6 personality among Orientals? Japanese researchers have investigated this and found that for lung cancer, type A, D, and E personalities have no effect on cancer incidence, but if it is a typical E personality, the mortality rate of lung cancer is 1.79 times higher than that of people least like this personality.

Of course, Grossarth-Maticek's type hexagram is not the only typing theory, there are other ways to classify personality. For example, a survey of more than 500 patients with early-stage breast cancer found that if the cancer was detected, the 5-year survival rate would be significantly reduced; if it was a helpless and hopeless type, the recurrence rate and mortality rate at 5 years would also increase, and the significantness of this increase could be maintained for 10 years.

This study reveals that regardless of a person's personality, if there is no positive mindset after the onset of cancer, it may have a detrimental effect on treatment.

Third, how to correctly understand the relationship between personality and disease

It should be pointed out that the above studies are all epidemiological studies. This type of study can only show a correlation between two events, but cannot prove whether there is a causal relationship.

For example, even if some studies have found that "a certain personality" is associated with "a certain cancer", it cannot be considered that this personality is the cause of this cancer.

To diagnose whether a person has cancer, it must be tested according to pathology, not just through the observation of personality and personality. At present, the early screening of cancer is not judged by personality. There are some genetic mutations that have been shown to promote the occurrence of cancer, but whether a person will get cancer is determined by a variety of factors, and a simple judgment cannot be made based on only one factor. Only BRCA gene mutations related to the incidence of cancer such as breast cancer are currently used as a reference for cancer prevention, and other oncogene mutations, such as EGFR gene mutations, are basically used to select treatment options, rather than judging whether a person will get cancer.

However, as a psychological factor, the C personality may have an impact on the decision of cancer patients to seek medical treatment and treatment. A survey of patients with malignant melanoma found that although the thickness of the tumor is the most obvious factor, determining whether the patient seeks help in time, in younger patients, people with C personality are more willing to believe in authority and seek treatment, and the correlation with the thickness of the tumor is more obvious, but in the older people over 55 years old, the correlation is not obvious.

It should also be noted that the so-called "C personality" is not yet a person with depression. If it is depression, it is a disease in itself. The biggest risk of depression is suicidal tendencies, especially adolescents, regardless of whether it will increase the risk of cancer, people with depressed states or even depressive tendencies deserve special attention and care, and also need timely medical treatment.

This article was edited by zoey

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