Personality and Disease: Scientific Proof vs. Wishful Thinking

by Christoffer Johansen (Editor)

Overview

A tremendous amount of research has been performed looking at the relationship between personality and disease. Research on this topic has been spread throughout scientific journals on psychology, behavioral health, psychoneuroimmunology, oncology, and epidemiology. Personality and Disease brings this research together in one place for the first time.

With contributions from world experts, the book summarizes research findings on personality as it relates to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and allergies, dementia, and more. Is there such a thing as a cancer- prone personality? Do sadness, anger, stress, or shyness affect the likelihood that we will fall ill to specific diseases? Can we protect ourselves from disease through a positive outlook?

This book will address both what we know, and what we persist in believing despite evidence to the contrary, and why such beliefs persist in the face of evidence.

• Investigates whether and how personality affects disease generally
• Includes cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, allergies, and dementia
• Separates fact from fiction, evidence from beliefs
• Collates research from a wide variety of scientific domains
• Contains international perspectives from top scholars

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780128054451
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	06/29/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	274
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Christoffer Johansen is a professor in the oncology clinic at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, and responsible for the first Psychosocial Cancer Research Unit at the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology with the Danish Cancer Society (EPI). He has 450+ peer-reviewed publications and 4 published books on cancer, with an h factor of 60. He holds several editor positions in cancer survivorship journals, is past president of The International Society of Psycho-Oncology, and has served on scientific advisory boards for The Netherlands Cancer Institute, The Karolinska Institute, and The Hamburg Cancer Research Center, Eppendorf. He additionally has been a senior advisor to the Danish National Board of Health. In his scientific career, Christoffer Johansen received and managed grants for more than 25 million dollars.
Dr. Johansen received his MD in 1986, his PhD in psychosocial cancer epidemiology in 1994 and his Doctor of Medical Sciences in environmental cancer epidemiology in 2004 at the University of Copenhagen. His main research areas are psychological and social factors in relation to cancer, electromagnetic fields and cancer, and genetic factors in relation to brain tumors.

Table of Contents

1. A Brief Historical Overview on Links Between Personality and Health 2. How to Measure the Personality 3. Personality as Determinant of Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, Physical Activity, and Diet Preferences 4. Personality and Cardiovascular Disease 5. Personality and Type 2 Diabetes: An Overview of the Epidemiological Evidence 6. Personality and Dementia: Personality as Risk Factor or as Early Manifestation in Dementing Disorders? 7. Personality, Asthma, and Allergies 8. The Personality and Risk for Cancer 9. Personality and Social Relationships: As Thick as Thieves 10. Personality Genetics 11. The Enduring Appeal of Psychosocial Explanations of Physical Illness 12. What Mechanisms Explain the Links Between Personality and Health?

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A summary of evidence on the influence of personality factors on the susceptibility to and course of disease