Grief, too, has a powerful physiological dimension. An illuminating study from the British journal Lancet Oncology described the impact of psychological factors on the intricate pathways linking the immune system, the hormones, and the nervous system in, for example, bereavement. Among parents who lost an adult son to an accident or military conflict, the authors reported increased occurrence of lymphatic and hematological malignancy—cancers of the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes—along with skin and lung cancer.[8] War kills, and so, it seems, can deep emotional loss. As for cancer, so
...more
