Can Marriage Help Surviving Colon Cancer?
June 25, 2011
Marriage increases the odds of surviving colon cancer! This is what a combined study from BYU and Penn State released June 21 suggests. The study program shows that married couples have a higher chance (up to 14 percent) to survive cancer. The results are based on cases of more than 125,000 colon patients.
Colon cancer is known as the fourth most common cancer inflicting males and females. In 2010 colon cancer claimed more than 51,000 lives in the USA, according figures presented by the American Cancer Society.
Researchers have found in the study that married men and women who were being diagnosed and seeking treatment in earlier stages of colon cancer, resulting to a higher survival rate.
Sven Wilson (a professor at BYU’s College of Family, Home and Social Sciences) who is a member of the research team, says:
“Our health is affected by our behaviors, socioeconomic status, work patterns and other relationships, marriage touches on all of those things.”
Though the authors of the publication, including Wilson, have acknowledged that there is a need for additional research to determine the cause of the survival benefits; the authors see the higher probability of survival as indicative of married couples receiving more aggressive treatments.
Interestingly, married cancer patients also tend to take greater risks to get cured – including: major surgery, when undergoing treatment. According discussions among the researchers, the risky decisions could be the result of being involved in the commitment associated with marriage:
“Because having a committed life partner gives patients more to live for.”
The new study also suggests that married men & women are more likely to get screened. Wilson believes this is related to encouragement from a spouse:
“You have an informal part-time health care provider living with you, encouraging you to take your medicine and see a doctor.”
Unlike earlier studies, the amount of data involved in the research is considerably larger than others. In the past, studies on correlations between cancer and marriage weren’t usually not able to show the stages of cancer + the factor concerning when patients were receiving treatment.
Dr. Randall Burt, a gastroenterologist, professor of medicine and director of prevention and outreach at the Hunstman Cancer Institute, likes the study as well, but he also adds an eager for more research on this subject:
“There seems to be little question that external support helps people through the whole cancer maze, but I think it really creates the question: What is causing the better survival among the married?”
Though the Huntsman Cancer Institute hasn’t done a study, Burt claims to have observed this trend.
However, Burt debated whether marriage itself is the cause or if it’s just an accompanying feature of people with higher incomes. Because better health knowledge and access to excellent medical care could partly explain the result. Therefore he recommends the need for future studies are necessary for clarity.
Researchers are just in the beginning stage of solve the puzzle of the real reasons why marriage conquers cancer, but this new study is a fascinating step ahead in understanding this environmental factor involved in the development of colon cancer.
