"Social Isolation Worsens Cancer, Mouse Study Suggests" -8

"Social Isolation Worsens Cancer, Mouse Study Suggests"
Science Daily. Retrieved at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133115.htm

Scientists have been studying mice with human breast cancer, and their social interactions and isolations. Researchers have studied that a negative environment for the mice, in their case isolation, actually increases the tumor growth. The search is to study the altered gene expression in the mammary glands of the mice, and how the changes increase the size of the tumors. The altered gene expression shows that it doesn’t all happen in the brain, it happens in other tissues also, when the animal’s environment is changed around. Two mice that were genetically found with mammary gland cancer, and placed one of the mice in a environment with other mice and the other mouse with breast cancer was put into isolation. After the same amount of time, the mouse in isolation had a larger tumor than the one that was put into a community. Not only were the tumor sizes different, the behavior hormone levels and stress hormone levels in the isolated mouse were much higher than the other mouse. The findings in the mice with breast cancer, could further suggest that not only in mammary gland cancers, but also any type of chronic disease could be much worse when dealt with in isolation.