Behaviour Therapy as an Aid in the Prevention of Cancer and Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

Three experiments are reported in which details about personality, stress, smoking and other variables are elicited at the beginning of the study, and death and cause of deàth ascertained ten years later. It is found that personality and stress can successfully predict cancer and coronary heart disease, and do so very significantly better than does cigarette consumption. Behaviour therapy is shown to be able prophylactically to reduce very significantly the risk of cancer or coronary heart disease.