Prostate Cancer Diagnosis May Bring Suicide, Heart Risks

Article here. Excerpt:

'Prostate cancer may not be as deadly as it once was, likely because of advances in screening and treatment, but a new study suggests that even a diagnosis of the disease carries some risks.

A collaboration including researchers from Harvard University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden looked at data for more than 4 million men in Sweden above the age of 30 and found that the diagnosis of prostate cancer -- something that occurred in over 160,000 of those men -- increased the relative risks for fatal heart problems 11 times and suicide by eight times in the week after diagnosis.

"Stress can be an important trigger for physiologic reactions, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Meir Stampfer, chair of the department of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The diagnosis of cancer also can cause high enough stress to see a noticeable increase in both heart disease and suicide."'