Have you heard that stress is closely associated with cancer?
I think we all have. It’s definitely a popular Google search.
So are they related?
The short answer—yes.
Of course, it’s complicated, but research has shown a connection between chronic stress markers in the body and a person’s risk of developing a serious health condition like diabetes, heart disease, or the as-stated cancer.
But if stress is unavoidable — especially in these times, right? — what can you do?
YOUR Stress Is Unique
First, you need to understand that what stresses you out and how your body responds to stress is different from everybody else.
I’m not going to tell you to “just meditate”. I know you’ve heard that before and honestly, generic recommendations aren’t going to really help you manage your stress effectively.
What you need to understand is the actual mechanisms of how your body personally responds to outside stressors, the hormonal signaling, the enzyme pathways.
Sound complicated? It’s not.
Let me tell you a story.
The Robbery
Diane is a longtime member of SelfDecode. She came to us a few years back and she’s had quite a journey.
Diane was a teacher, and her school was located in a pretty sketchy part of town. One night, one of her students, a troubled soul, broke into her apartment. The kid ransacked the place, leaving nothing untouched. He took a bat to her mirrors and dishes, stole her computer.
Diane was shell-shocked. But even more incredulous, when she told her school administration, they didn’t believe her. Even with the police records, she got no support.
Diane tried to continue working, but she couldn’t shake the trauma of the experience. You could say she had a form of PTSD. And then her health issues started, debilitating muscle pain, brain fog, gut issues.
The Diagnosis
It was about a year later, she got the diagnosis. Cancer.
Now she was forced to take off work.
Diane was in a hard place, weak from chemo, deep in medical bills. She spent many days unable to get off the couch, staring at the ceiling, wondering, “how did I get here?”.
Wanting Answers
Can you relate to Diane? Sure, her situation was awful, but haven’t we all hit a rock bottom, so to speak, and questioned how did it get so bad?
Diane wanted answers.
Like I said in the beginning of this email, Diane knew there was some link between stress and illness, but what did that mean exactly for her and if she figured out, could it help her recover?
Thankfully, that’s when Diane found me and SelfDecode.
We ran her DNA through our genetic testing analysis and sure enough, Diane had some significant mutations in her COMT genes.
In fact, Diane is what you call a low COMT haplotype meaning she has multiple genes that produce low level activity.
Getting into the science, Diane’s stress hormones, namely glutamate, epinephrine, and norepinephrine tend to build-up and hang around in her body for too long causing her to be in a chronic state of inflammation and sympathetic as in ‘flight or fight’ mode.
This makes her more susceptible to PTSD and the toll it can take on her health.
The Fix
Once Diane knew the precise genetic and cellular pathways where she was vulnerable, her next step was to use targeted strategies to counter her weaknesses.
Diane needed the solution to be easy. She was in too bad a shape for anything complicated or overly taxing.
Lucky for her, supporting your genes often requires simple daily habits like taking certain supplements or eating common but critical nutrients.
Diane downloaded her COMT Wellness Report that gave her a fully comprehensive list of everything she needed to do. She just followed the steps. Easy as 1. 2. 3.
Within days Diane started feeling slightly better. Within weeks, she actually felt good. She got off the couch, showered, and took her SAM-E supplement. She made her big salads of dark leafy greens and a homemade dressing of flaxseed and olive oil.
Then, the daily became life changing.
She moved out of her apartment of bad memories into someplace new, got a teaching job in another district.
YOU Can Stress Less
I don’t want you to wait too long to address your stress issues like Diane did or frankly, myself. I know many of you know my story. I started SelfDecode because it’s my mission to help people learn how to fix their health themselves, so they don’t have to suffer like I did. Or Diane.
It’s because of stories like Diane’s that we have created DNA reports like our COMT report, Anxiety report and now…
The BRAND NEW Trauma DNA Report!
By the way, Diane is thriving today. Her pain is gone, the brain fog lifted and yes, thank goodness, she’s cancer-free.
But how are you? Are you feeling stressed?
The truth is, you can’t stop the stress around you, BUT you can change the way your body handles it.
What you need to do is arm yourself with understanding your genetics, how your cells work, and then you can implement the easy strategies that will disable the stress from having a negative impact on your health.
SelfDecode makes that process easy. Accurate analysis, evidence-based science, and personalized recommendations made for YOUR body based on your DNA.
Sign up today to download the new Trauma DNA Report, along with the Anxiety & COMT DNA Reports, and start rewiring the way your body responds to trauma and stress.
<Yes! I’m ready to unlock my stress resilience!>
