Studies offer insight into mental fog that may follow chemotherapy
Guest blogger Idelle Davidson is an award-winning journalist, a breast cancer survivor, and the co-author (with Dr. Dan Silverman at UCLA) of “Your Brain After Chemo: A Practical Guide to Lifting the Fog and Getting Back Your Focus.” Her website is www.YourBrainAfterChemo.com.
You may be familiar with the term, “chemo brain,” the mental fog that some patients experience after treatment for cancer. For those of us who have gone through it, we find that we can’t remember things, can’t concentrate, are easily distracted, and may have trouble retrieving words or following the thread of a conversation.
Among breast cancer and lymphoma patients, studies report that up to 80 percent experience some amount of cognitive impairment, ranging from mild to severe. Luckily, the fog lifts for most (as it did for me) within two years following chemotherapy or hormonal therapies. But there is a small percentage (about one-fourth) that continues to report cognitive problems, even five to ten years later.
The cause of “chemo brain” is unclear. Scientists still don’t know how much of this mental fog is actually due to chemotherapy or other contributing factors, such as hormonal therapies, depression, stress, surgery and anesthesia, radiation, steroids, or a genetic predisposition. Even cancer itself can trigger the release of proteins called, “cytokines,” which in turn may create a cascade of events affecting how our minds function.
Whatever the defining cause, authors of a large study published last year in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (“Prevalence of Memory Problems That Limit Daily Functioning in Adult Cancer Patients: A National Representative Sample of the U.S. Population”), found that adults with cancer generally were almost 50 percent more likely to report memory problems than adults without cancer.
“One of the most important parts of cancer treatment is management of symptoms, such as impairments in attention, memory and fatigue, in order to improve a patient’s quality of life,” says lead author Pascal Jean-Pierre, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, department of pediatrics, and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. “This study suggests these memory issues are more common than had been recognized before, and should be assessed in all patients with a history of cancer.”
In other words, cognitive screening prior to, during, and after cancer treatment means good medical care. And that’s the sharpest focus of all.
CONNECT THE DOTS
For more information on “chemo brain” or cancer-related cognitive dysfunction, visit the websites of the Mayo Clinic and the American Cancer Society to read about symptoms and risk factors, and go to CancerandCareers.org to learn strategies for coping at work. For more news about cancer and chemotherapy, read our posts, “Breakthroughs to Beat Cancer” and “The Human Touch: Massages for Chemotherapy Patients.”
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