Cancer is a disease that has featured in the news quite a lot of late following the death of the gre

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE. YOUR NATURAL HEALTH SOURCE Cancer is a disease that has featured in the news quite a lot of late following the death of the great visionary and innovator Steve Jobs - and from my country Kenya, the death of 2004 Nobel Peace laureate Prof Wangari Maathai from Ovarian cancer during the month of September this year. While there could be many other causes of cancer, several scientific studies have shown that prolonged periods of stress and grief can trigger the onset of cancer. Where is the association between stress/grief and cancer? While a little stress can do us good by pushing us to compete and innovate, chronic stress and prolonged grief can increase the risk of diseases such as depression, heart disease and even cancer. By weakening the immune system, which fights the formation of cancer cells everyday, chronic stress destroys our main defense system against this lethal disease. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol can also directly - unfortunately - support the growth and spread of the tumor (s). However, all is not lost. From thousands of years ago, alternative medicine has come up with various techniques and therapies for dealing with stress and its effects. This is a branch of medical science and practice that, in my opinion, should be given more prominence all over the world. Such practices as Yoga, Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine from the oriental world have delivered tremendous results where they have been used.