Rod Nielsen Quotations

So far the literature has focused on verifiable external stressors with less emphasis on how they are experienced by the individual, ... The same external stressor may result in different levels of stress in different people. A measure of self-reported stress therefore provides a better measure of the actual level of stress experienced by the individual.

It would be an obvious next step in this line of research to address the validity of this hypothesis in humans, and it is something we are currently working at. It would also be very interesting to see if these findings can be replicated in other studies,

Even though we find a lower risk of breast cancer among stressed women, let me just emphasize that stress cannot be considered a healthy response,

Stress is a large problem, especially in the westernized world, and this study may help us understand some of the mechanisms behind breast cancer and how stress actually affects breast-cancer risk, ... Further, some women may partly blame their own stressful lifestyle when diagnosed with breast cancer. Hopefully, this and other studies may counteract such reactions.

Stress is not a desirable state and it may lead to the development of other disease, particularly cardiovascular disease,

The mechanisms behind the observed lower risk of breast cancer among stressed women remain unknown,