Coping with chronic pain and Depression

July 21, 2015

Coping with chronic pain and Depression: Things you need to do when in pain

If coping with chronic pain and depression is giving you helpless night, then you need to seek for help immediately. Early treatment will go along way is dealing with the problem effectively.

Pain is one thing that we will always live with and we cannot just wish away. If you have not been in any kind of pain the probably you don’t know what pain is and so I will take time to briefly describe to you what pain is. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, doctor Akoury says that medically pain could derived its meaning in relation to a sensation that hurts. It therefore means that there will be no pain without being hurt, feelings of discomfort, distress and in other times agony and this will also depends on the severity of the pain. When in pain you must be able to understand that generally pain can either be steady and constant and in such cases you may feel some aches. Besides that it might be a throbbing pain – a pulsating pain. The pain could have a pinching sensation, or a stabbing one. From the definition, we can comfortably say that it is not practically possible for one or those who suffer from chronic pain to feel stressed and depressed at times. This is no surprise, given the fact that “chronic pain” usually means pain that lasts more than three to six months. Nonetheless prolonged pain appears to set up a pathway in the nervous system that sends pain signals to the brain, even in the absence of an underlying anatomical problem. Therefore to understand the significance of pain well we are going to focus our discussion on the possibilities of coping with chronic pain and depression. Doctor Dalal Akoury MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center will be sharing with us more about pain from a professional point of view.

Besides that it is important to appreciate that some chronic pain may be due to a diagnosable anatomical problem, such as degenerative disc disease or spinal stenosis that can cause continual pain until successfully treated. More often, the chronic pain has no clear anatomical cause, as in failed back surgery syndrome or chronic back pain without an identified pain generator. In such cases, the pain is itself the disease. Yet again for some people, the stress and depression resulting from chronic pain can become consuming, and can even worsen and prolong the pain. Increased pain can, in turn, lead to increased stress and depression, creating a cycle of depression and pain that can be difficult to break. To be fairly safe from all these pains, there are certain things that we can do to prevent, manage or minimize chronic pain and depression. The following are some of the things you can do:

Coping with chronic pain and Depression: Minimizing the chances of developing chronic pain

Talking to a physician about symptoms of depression or stress, or a history of depression, while still in the acute pain phase can alert a physician to the need for consideration of both conditions in creating a treatment plan for the patient’s spine health. While one patient may demonstrate a full recovery from the initial injury, a patient who is more prone to depression and stress, shows signs of depression and/or stress, or who has a history of clinical depression may be more vulnerable to developing a chronic pain problem that persists beyond the initial acute pain complaint. An informed physician can suggest a treatment plan early on that treats the patient’s mental state as well as their physical pain, minimizing the chances of the patient developing a chronic pain problem.

It is advisable for patients to talk with their doctors if they experience any of the following common symptoms of depression that is changes in sleeping patterns, appetite and feelings of anxieties.

Remember that stress a lone can manifest itself in several ways. Therefore it is important for patients to seek their doctor’s opinion if they think or believe that they are displaying symptoms characteristic of stress-related back pain, which are similar to those of fibromyalgia: Back pain and/or neck pain, diffuse muscle aches, muscle tender points and sleep disturbance and fatigue. Besides that doctor Akoury says that chronic pain can also be exacerbated by things such as physical de-conditioning due to lack of exercise and an individual’s thoughts about the pain. Patients can help thwart their pain from developing into or minimizing chronic pain by engaging in an appropriate exercise program and practicing distraction, guided imagery and other cognitive techniques.

Coping with chronic pain and Depression: Stress triggers that can increase chronic pain

Patients can monitor how their own stress and anxiety affects their back pain by keeping a diary of when their back pain changes and what kinds of stress could be triggering the pain. This exercise can redirect a patient’s focus from the pain to the elements in their life that affect their pain. Identifying stress triggers or emotional triggers that affect the pain will give the patient the opportunity for better pain relief through avoiding or eliminating these stress triggers. Recognizing how depression and stress affect their pain can lessen anxiety by giving patients more control over their chronic pain problem.

Coping with chronic pain and Depression: Share your experience about depression

Doctor Akoury says that depression and an emotional reaction to chronic pain are normal. However many patients do not speak to their physicians about their depression because they believe that once the initial pain problem is resolved, the depression, anxiety, and stress they are feeling will go away. Nevertheless, secondary losses from a chronic pain problem, such as changes in the ability to do favorite activities, disrupted family relationships, financial stress, or the loss of a job, can continue to contribute to feelings of hopelessness and depression. Therefore talking to a physician about your feelings of depression will keep the physician better informed and better able to provide appropriate care. Remember that depression can affect the frequency and intensity of pain symptoms, and the healing process. In the meantime it is important to appreciate that getting simultaneous treatments for both the back pain and depression is healthy and will give the patient a better chance of realizing a full recovery.

Coping with chronic pain and Depression: Seek multi-disciplinary care for pain and depression

Did you know that by sharing your story with your physician about the challenges of depression, you can be creating an opportunity for a multi-disciplinary course of treatment involving both a physician and a mental health professional? This is very possible and with a team approach formula, both the pain problem and the depression are monitored simultaneously, and both doctors can communicate about how each area affects the other. It’s important for physicians to understand that changes in the physical symptoms of pain can also be related to changes in a patient’s mental state. Finally remember that even as you seek for these medications, some common treatments for pain, including opioid pain medication, can actually worsen your depressed situation. This worsening depression can then affect the physical presentation of the pain. Therefore if both physical and mental well-being is being monitored closely by medical experts, treatment and medication recommendations, including antidepressants, can be made that take both the physical pain and the emotional health of the patient into account. There are a lot more that can be done to remedy the situation. Therefore you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury for more professional guidance today.

Coping with chronic pain and Depression: Things you need to do when in pain

How can I help myself cope with cancer

May 3, 2015

How can I help myself cope with cancer: The Attitude and Beliefs?

How can I help myself cope with cancer? By practicing moderate exercise and seeking for professional opinion

People value the care they get from their cancer care team, but many also want to take an active role in dealing with their illness. Dr. Dalal Akoury the MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center has been in the medical practice for well over two decades and she is going to help us in putting this question “how can I help myself cope with cancer?” into perspective. She says that for a better understanding of these concerns, it is important to segment the useful ideas on coping with cancer in to two categories. The divisions is based on attitudes and beliefs that clearly are beneficial (and she calls them the Do’s) and those that are harmful (which she referred to as the Don’ts). The following are some of the doable.

How can I help myself cope with cancer: The Doable Attitudes?

Only go for those coping ways that have been helpful for you in the past in solving problems – It is important to note that everyone will only want to associate with those people who will add value to their lives. Therefor be selective and only go for those whom you will feel comfortable sharing and talking with about your illness freely. In the event that you can’t talk to anyone, you could opt for meditation, relaxation or listening to music as alternatives of calming you down. Do what it takes and only apply what has worked for you before and in the unlikely event that nothing works and coping is becoming difficult, then at this point getting professional help becomes necessary.

Deal with cancer “one day at a time – For effective dealing with cancer, it is very important that you keep distance from elements of worries. The business of coping with cancer will be less tasking when broken into smaller units which are manageable. By doing this, you will be able to handle your daily objectives.

Register for support and self-help groups – Only associate with value additions groups and leave any group that makes you feel worse.

Find a doctor who lets you ask all your questions – In the journey of answering this question “how can I help myself cope with cancer?” it will be very important that you in all your association there must be the feelings of mutual respect and trust. Always insist on being a partner in your treatment. Doing this will enable you to be informed of the problems you are likely to face before they come, and addressing them will become even easier.

Explore spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, such as prayer, that may have helped you in the past – If you don’t consider yourself a religious or spiritual person, get support from any belief systems that you value. This may comfort you and even help you find meaning in the experience of your illness.

Keep a personal notebook of your doctors’ numbers, dates of treatments, lab values, x-rays, scans, symptoms, side effects, medicines, and general medical status – Information about the cancer and your treatment is important to have, and no one can keep it better than you.

Keep a journal if you find a need to express yourself without holding back – It can help you process the journey, and you may be amazed by how helpful it can be.

How can I help myself cope with cancer: The Don’ts Elements?

Believe the old saying that “cancer equals death – remember that many cancer survivors are healthy today thereby disqualifying this statement.
Blame yourself for causing your cancer – There is no scientific proof linking certain personalities, emotional states, or painful life events to getting cancer. Even if you may have raised your cancer risk through smoking or some other habit, it does not help to blame yourself or beat yourself up.
Feel guilty if you can’t keep a positive attitude all the time, especially when you don’t feel well – The saying “you have to be positive to beat cancer” is not true. Low periods will come, no matter how great you are at coping. There is no proof that those times have a bad effect on your health or tumor growth. But if they become frequent or severe, getting professional help would be ideal.
Suffer in silence – Make cancer a communal problem and refuse to struggle with it alone. Get support from your family, loved ones, friends, doctor, clergy, or those you meet in support groups who understand what you are going through. With these supports, you are certainly going to cope better.
Be embarrassed or ashamed to get help from a mental health expert – If it becomes necessary to seek for the services of a mental specialist for conditions like anxiety or depression that disrupts your sleep, eating, ability to concentrate, ability to function normally, or if you feel your distress is getting out of control, don’t feel embarrassed and proceed boldly.
Abandon your regular treatment for an alternative therapy – If you use a treatment that your doctor didn’t recommend, use only those that you know do no harm. Find out if the treatment can be safely used along with your regular therapies to improve your quality of life. Psychological, social, and spiritual approaches are helpful and safe, and medical professional across the board are encouraging the use of such treatment modes. As we had mentioned things like relaxation and meditation are good ways to deal with distress.

How can I help myself cope with cancer: Other coping methods: Exercise

Doctor Akoury says that exercise is not only safe for most people during cancer treatment, but it can also help you feel better. Moderate exercise has been shown to help with tiredness, anxiety, muscle strength, and heart and blood vessel fitness. And in fact most people with cancer can do some form of exercise. Like for instance, walking is a good way to get started and a good way to keep moving when you are feeling stressed. Remember that with cancer involve not all cancer patients can be engaged in all types of exercises. Get the opinion of your doctor about your exercise plans before you start. Keep in mind that even though exercise may help lower distress levels in some people, exercise alone is usually not enough to help people with moderate to severe distress. Therefore, for comprehensive health information about our discussion topic “how can I help myself cope with cancer?” schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today and your healthy will never be the same again.

How can I help myself cope with cancer: The Attitude and Beliefs?

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients

April 30, 2015

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: Panic attacks and cancer

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients will go along way in offering lasting solutions to cancer treatment

Every time we are faced with any life threatening situation, we become depressed, fearful and our anxiety level goes up. This is common with people because it is inbuilt. The problem often becomes more complicated when we fail to be calm and panic in the process. Like for instance, the news about cancer infection can be very lethal on the part of the patient especially when they were not prepared of the possibilities of being cancerous. The luck of preparedness is the major cause of the greatest portion of fear and anxiety. Besides this, the fear of treatment, frequent visit to the doctor’s clinic and tests might also cause apprehension. Because of the impact attributed to these feelings, we want to discuss the best ways of handling anxiety and fear by cancer patients in the present generation.

According the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury’s care, it’s normal to feel afraid and scared when you’re sick. Like for instance people may be afraid of hysterical pain, dying, or the aftermath of death, including what might happen to loved ones. These same feelings may be experienced by family members and friends as well. It is therefore very important that we are aware of what signs that will indicate the presence of such fears and anxieties. The following are some of the signs and symptoms of fear and anxiety

Portraying anxious facial expression
Hysterical worry
Difficulties in solving problems and focusing thoughts
Muscle tension
Quivering or trembling
Restlessness, may feel keyed up or on edge
Dehydrated mouth
Irritability or angry outbursts

Doctor Akoury recommends that when an individual is showing majority of these signs daily, and they are causing interference with their lives, then at this point a mental health evaluation could be helpful. Under these circumstances you can be very instrumental in advising the patients by observing the following.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: What to do

Polite encouragement to share the experience.
Share feelings and fears that you or the anxious person may be having.
Listen carefully to each other’s feelings. Offer support, but don’t deny or discount feelings.
Remember that it’s OK to feel sad and frustrated.
Get help through counseling and from support groups.
Use meditation, prayer, or other types of spiritual support if it helps.
Embrace deep breathing and relaxation exercises. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, focus on each body part and relax it, start with your toes and work up to your head. When relaxed try to think of a pleasant place such as a beach in the morning or a sunny field on a spring day.
Talk with a doctor about using anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medicines.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: Do not

Make effort to argue with a person whose fears and anxieties are severe instead consult with a doctor on the kind of medications to help.
Keep feelings inside.
Persuade one who is not willing to open up and talk to do so.
Blame yourself or another person for feeling fearful or anxious.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: Panic attacks

Panic attacks can be an alarming symptom of anxiety. Panic attacks happen very suddenly and often reach their worst in just about 10 minutes. The victim may seem fine between the attacks but is usually very afraid that they will happen again. The following are some of the symptoms of panic attack.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: Symptoms of a panic attack

Shortness of breath or a feeling of being smothered
Running heart
Feelings of dizziness, unstable, lightheaded, or faint
Chest pain or discomfort
Feeling as if they’re choking
Quivering or trembling
Sweating
Fear of losing control or “going crazy”
An urge to escape
Impassiveness or tingling sensations
Feeling “unreal” or “detached” from themselves
Chills (shaking or shivering) or hot flashes (may involve sweating or facial reddening)

If a person is having any of the first 5 symptoms or any five for that matter, it can mean an urgent or life-threatening condition. In this case the presence of a doctor would be required right away to attend to the patient if someone unexpectedly has any of these. It is also very important to note that these symptoms can be signs of other, more serious problems such as shock, heart attack, blood chemistry imbalance, collapsed lung, allergic reaction and many other chronic conditions. Therefore it’s not safe to make an assumption that they are panic-related until are diagnosed and confirmed by a doctor.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: What to do

Check with the doctor to be sure that the symptoms are caused by panic and not another medical problem.
Stay calm and speak softly during a panic attack.
Sit with the person during panic attacks until he or she is feeling better.
Call for help if needed.
After the panic attack is over, encourage the person to get treatment for the panic attacks.
Provide transportation to treatment if needed. The person may be afraid that a panic attack will happen while driving.
The ideas listed under “What to do” in the section “Anxiety and Fear” may also be helpful.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: Do not

Minimize or make light of the person’s terror or fear.
Judge the person for feeling scared and acting strangely.
Try to talk the person out of their fear or other feelings.
Hesitate to call the doctor if you have questions about what’s happening.

Finally for us to win the good health back, we must ensure that we change our attitude towards anxiety and fear more so when it comes to handling cancer patients. Everything we do will matter a lot in the healing process of the cancer patients. Therefore seeking for treatment in good time and from experience and qualified doctors will be the best you can do for yourself. Doctor Dalal Akoury is one of such professionals you can contact for any health conditions you have that is cancerous. Make the best decision today and schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury for a life changing treatment that will give you your life back enjoying it to the fullest.

Handling Anxiety and Fear by Cancer Patients: Panic attacks and cancer

How Cancer affects your emotional health

April 30, 2015

How Cancer affects your emotional health: Depression and cancer

How Cancer affects your emotional health is one thing you can avoid by being physically active

It is never fun to be told that you are suffering from cancer. When such news is broken to the patients, devastation, pain and anguish sets in not just to the patient but even to the relatives and loved ones. For sure most patients, families, and caregivers expresses some degree of depression, anxiety, and fear when cancer becomes part of their lives. These feelings are normal responses to this life-changing experience. We want to settle into the discussion of how cancer affects your emotional health and what you can do to help. We will be guided by the help of doctor Dalal Akoury who is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center where a lot of cancer preventive treatment are done. You can also be part of the many experiencing life transformation with the professionalism approach doctor Akoury is applying in the treatment of her clients.

Like I have just mention cancer is life threatening and people struggling with cancer will have the feelings expressed above which can be caused by many things, including changes in their families’ roles and even assignment at their work stations. A cancer patient is likely to feel the loss of control over life events, and bear the burden of dealing with changes in their body image. They might feel grief at the losses and changes in their lives that cancer brings. There may be fear of the eventualities like death, suffering, pain, or all the unknown elements that lie ahead. This may not be limited to the patients only but even the family members and caregivers may have these feelings too. It is possible that they will be afraid of losing their loved one. Anger of knowing that cancer is affecting their loved ones will be another concern especially with the knowledge that cancer is genetically inherited. This will in many ways cause both the patient and their loved ones frustration and stress that they are either not doing enough to help or that they have to do more at home.

In all these, it’s important to remember that people with cancer, as well as their friends and family, can feel distress about these things at any time after a cancer diagnosis, even many years after the cancer is treated. And as the cancer situation changes, they all must cope with new stressors along with the old, and their feelings often change, too. For instance, people dealing with cancer that’s spread and is making the person feel worse may have more emotional distress than those dealing with early-stage cancers.

People who have physical symptoms such as pain, nausea, or extreme tiredness (fatigue) also seem more likely to have emotional distress. Most of the time, physical symptoms can be controlled with medicines but it could take more than one try to find the right drug or combination of drugs. Doctor Akoury emphasizes that because of this, patient must keep consulting closely with their doctors and with their cancer team. This way they can help with these kinds of symptoms before you feel overwhelmed.

Take note that this link is tailored to equip you with health information that can help your families, friends, and caregivers to know what feelings and behaviors they might expect from their loved one who has been diagnosed with cancer. It is also to help you understand what isn’t normal and when more needs to be done like getting outside help. Besides, it can also help you recognize when you or others need outside help. Remember that everybody is vulnerable to cancer and all these things can happen to anyone including your caregivers, friends, and family members too. Anyone affected by cancer theirs or a loved one will need help in dealing with the emotions that result.

How Cancer affects your emotional health: Depression and cancer

It’s normal to grieve over the changes that cancer brings to a person’s life. The future, which may have seemed so sure before, now becomes uncertain. Some dreams and plans may be lost forever. But if a person has been sad for a long time or is having trouble carrying out day-to-day activities, that person may have clinical depression. In fact, up to 1 in 4 people with cancer have clinical depression. The effects of clinical depression is alluded to great distress, impairs functioning, and might even make the person with cancer less able to follow their cancer treatment plan. In all these, there is still hope and the good news is that clinical depression can be treated. Therefore if you know of anyone who has symptoms of clinical depression, you can be their link to the much help they need, encourage them to get help from the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. There are many ways to treat clinical depression including medicines, counseling, or a combination of both. With good and timely treatments, you can reduce your rate of suffering and improve the quality of your life.

How Cancer affects your emotional health: Symptoms of clinical depression

Loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities most of the time
Being slowed down or restless and agitated almost every day, enough for others to notice
Frequent thoughts of death or suicide (not just fear of death), suicide plans or attempts
Continues sadness, hopeless, or “empty” mood for most of the day
Extreme tiredness (fatigue) or loss of energy
Trouble focusing thoughts, remembering, or making decisions
Feeling guilty, worthless, or helpless
Major weight loss (when not dieting) or weight gain
Trouble sleeping with early waking, sleeping too much, or not being able to sleep

Remember, some of these symptoms, such as weight changes, fatigue, or even forgetfulness can be caused by cancer and its treatment. However when five or more of these symptoms happen consistently daily for 2 weeks or more, or are severe enough to interfere with normal activities, it might be assign of depression. If this description fits your situation, then you need to be checked for clinical depression by a qualified health or mental health professional. If the person tries to hurt him- or herself, or has a plan to do so, get help right away.

How Cancer affects your emotional health: What to do

Promote physical activity, especially mild exercise such as daily walks.
Reassure the person that with time and treatment, he or she will start to feel better – and although changes to the treatment plan are sometimes needed, it’s important to be patient.
Help make appointments for mental health treatment, if needed.
Provide transportation for treatment, if needed.
Remember that it’s OK to feel sad and grieve over the losses that cancer has brought to their lives, and to yours.
Realize that being pessimistic and thinking everything is hopeless are symptoms of depression and should get better with treatment.
Engage the person in conversation and activities they enjoy.
Encourage the depressed person to continue treatment until symptoms improve, or to talk to the doctor about different treatment if there’s no improvement after 2 or 3 weeks.

If you suspect you may be depressed, schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury today.

How Cancer affects your emotional health: Depression and cancer

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer

April 30, 2015

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: The most talk about type of cancer

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer is realistic and must be addressed timely if we have to keep the beauty and health of our loved ones breast.

Of all the cancer types, breast cancer is the one most studied more so when it comes to the psychosocial effects. It therefore goes without mention that of all the studies done, most of them are focusing on women and breast cancer. This is what the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury are going to help us understand. Remember that doctor Akoury is also the founder of this facility and ever since she has been of great help to many people across the globe. You can be among the many that have been treated and are now enjoying their lives to the fullest by seeking an audience with her today through a phone call and you will not regret it. In the meantime, let us settle into the discussion focusing on the depression in women with breast cancer.

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: Longitudinal studies of depression in women with breast cancer

Like I had said before, this has become a great point of concern to researchers and a lot is being done in this direction. Like for instance and according to one of the prospective study where 160 women with breast cancer and were schedule for breast surgery, it was established that about 22% prevalence of depression in women who had a mastectomy for breast cancer. In relation to those with initial stages of cancer this prevalence was consistent for two years. During this period a 30% rate of anxiety in a study of 58 ambulatory women who were 5 years post treatment for breast cancer. Nonetheless women who had partial mastectomy followed by radiation had better body image but similar amount of anxiety and depression symptoms and fear of recurrence as did women who had modified radical mastectomy.

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: Depression in breast cancer patients by surgical procedure

Of the many studies conducted, when the specialist were analyzing the various findings and in comparison with the psychological outcomes of the women undergoing different surgical procedures, it was established some low levels of depression but higher levels of anxiety in 133 ambulatory breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy after mastectomy or lumpectomy. The end result of this study shows clear evidence that in a cutoff score of 10 on HADS only two mastectomy patients were considered significantly depressed. And on the other hand if a HADS cutoff score of 8 was applied, then 6.7% were depressed. In contrast, in a study of 123 women with breast cancer, there was a clear evidence of high prevalence of depression (50% in mastectomy, 50% in lumpectomy with radiation versus 41% in lumpectomy only). These high percentages may have resulted from a use of a self-report depression scale (Center for Epidemiology Self-report Depression Scale [CES-D]) rather than a DSM-IIIR criteria-based clinical interview.

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: Prior History of Depression in Women with Breast Cancer

Few researchers have noted the time of onset of depression or correlated patients’ history of depression with current depression or functioning. Notably, researchers reported findings on a homogenous sample of 79 women evaluated with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and CES-D 3–7 months after their diagnosis of breast cancer. Nearly 18% of this sample had a past or current history of depression according to DSM-IIIR criteria. Women with elevated depressive symptoms had more physical symptom distress and more impaired functioning than subjects with depressive disorders and without depression.

In a cross-sectional study of 303 relatively young (mean age 46 years) women with early (stage I or II) breast cancer at 3 months after breast surgery using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire and HADS, it was again established that a past history of depression was associated with depression. It was also noted that women with few psychological symptoms and good emotional adjustment to cancer may have refused participation in this study because these women were also being recruited into an intervention study.

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: Hormones and Depression in Women with Breast Cancer

In one of the studies involving 257 women with lymph node-negative breast cancer, 155 of who were treated with tamoxifen and 102 who were not. On the basis of clinical interview, 15% of the tamoxifen-treated group had depression compared with 3% of those not taking tamoxifen. Of the 23 women with depression, eight had mild symptoms and no change in tamoxifen dose was made, eight had significant depression requiring a dose reduction to relieve symptoms, and seven had to discontinue tamoxifen secondary to depression.

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: Prevalence of Depression in Women with Advanced Breast Cancer

Studies evaluating the correlation of depression with disease progression in women with breast cancer have shown inconsistent results. Experts have found less depression in women with advanced breast cancer (4.5%) than in those with recurrent disease (15%). Physical disability did not relate to emotional disturbance. And yet in another study experts reported that ambulatory advanced breast cancer patients had a 20% depression prevalence in one study and 9% depression in another. Still again other studies found a 32% prevalence of depression in 22 women with local recurrence comparable with rates found with mastectomy. And in yet another research experts found a 13% prevalence of depression in advanced breast cancer patients (N = 139); increased levels of depression were found in those with lowest socioeconomic status, poorest performance status, and closer proximity to death.

In view of all these studies, researches and their findings it is becoming clearer that depression in women with breast cancer is realistically a problem that we cannot just wish away. It will take a consolidated effort from all us (medical professionals, government authorities, the general public and all interested parties) to pool together in the fight against these life threatening conditions. On her part as a medical expert, doctor Akoury made a decision to create a medical center (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) whose main objective is to transform each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Dr. Akoury’s practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. I strongly believe that you want your life to be transformed for the best of the very best. If this describes your interest, then you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury today and being the life transformation journey with the best in the medical practice.

Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: The most talk about type of cancer

Tag Archives: depression and anxiety