Young women who have been exposed to several traumatic life events are at higher risk for breast cancer, while happiness may have a protective effect, Israeli researchers found in a recent study.

Such adverse events would be severe tragedies such as the death or divorce of parents during the childhood or teenage years and the loss of a spouse, or moderate incidents like joblessness and a financial crisis, according to the study released by the on-line publisher BioMed Central.

Following a survey of 622 women, aged from 25 to 45, of whom 255 had been diagnosed with breast cancer and 367 were healthy, the research team found a clear link between their psychological outlook and risk of breast cancer, with the results showing that women who had suffered two or more traumatic events had a 62 percent greater risk, while optimists are 25 percent less likely to have developed the disease.

The researchers, led by Ronit Peled, Orly Siboni-Samocha and Ilana Shoham-Vardi of Ben-Gurion University and Devora Carmi of the University of Haifa, thus concluded that exposure to more than one life event is positively associated with the breast cancer, while a general feeling of happiness and optimism has a "protective effect."

The research team suggested that psychological stress could contribute to the increasing risk by modifying cell responses to environmental factors, while adding that the mechanism is still "not fully understood."

Meanwhile, the team called for further studies in this subject, and suggested that possible preventive initiatives should be developed.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2008)