14 DAY TRIAL // Social support can alleviate some of the physical symptoms associated with breast cancer, argues a study published in today's issue of the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
More precisely, this study maintains that, when spending significant amounts of time with friends, breast cancer sufferers are likely to witness an improvement in the pain and other problems experienced because of this medical condition.
As the researchers explain, social support does not in itself constitute a treatment for the physical symptoms of breast cancer sufferers.
However, it ups a person's ability to cope with such symptoms and thus improves on their overall wellbeing.
“This study provides research-based evidence that social support helps with physical symptoms. Social support mechanisms matter in terms of physical outcomes,” study lead author Candyce H. Kroenke, ScD, MPH reportedly commented on the importance of this research.
“Given that this dimension was determined by the availability of someone with whom to have fun, relax and get one's mind off things for a while, it is possible that positive social interaction may enable women to forget for a while the distress of being a cancer patient, and the physiologic effects last beyond the actual interaction,” Candyce H. Kroenke further argued.
The study also says that, in the case of patients suffering with late-stage breast cancer, their being able to still carry out various household tasks and running errands also helped alleviate some of the symptoms.
These conclusions were reached by collecting and analyzing data concerning the quality of life of 3,139 female breast cancer patients diagnosed between the years 2006 and 2011.
The women were all asked to provide information concerning their social groups, the kind of support they received and the symptoms they experienced.
Of these patients, those who were the most socially integrated were found to also be the ones who had the best overall quality of life during the various treatment stages.