Men who suffer from severe anxiety are twice as likely to die from cancer as those who don’t, research has found.
The major 15-year survey discovered the link between anxiety and cancer regardless of other factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.
However, women with anxiety are apparently at no greater risk.
Scientists involved in the European prospective Investigation study of almost 16,000 people have now called on doctors to treat anxiety as a serious health risk.
Mental health researcher Olivia Remes, of Cambridge University, said: “Researchers, policy-makers and clinicians don’t give enough importance to anxiety and this needs to change.
“A large number of people are affected by anxiety and its potential effects on health are substantial.”
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects around one in 20 adults and involves excessively worrying about many aspects of life.
Experts suggest mental stress from GAD leads to bodily stress which goes on to weaken functions such as the immune system.
The difference between men and women is suggested to be because women are more likely to seek treatment for anxiety.
Professor David Nutt, of Imperial College London, supported the findings.
“The intense distress that these people suffer often on a daily basis is usually associated with a great deal of bodily stress that is bound to have a major impact on many psychological process including immune supervision of cancerous cells,” said the former government adviser on drugs.
