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AlaskaAngel
Senior User
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 170
Location: Alaska
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 Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 2:30 pm Post subject: Chemobrain |
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I will post here an article for everyone to consider, followed by my own impression:
Reported December 20, 2004
Chemobrain
HOUSTON (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Chemotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment. But with the therapy comes an often overlooked side effect that researchers have dubbed "chemobrain." Here's what is and what doctors are doing to stop it.
Janis Shea works hard to stay focused. "I'm lost," she says. "I can't say what I want to say right now. My thoughts have just left me."
Chemotherapy helped Janis beat breast cancer, but those treatments left her with memory loss and attention problems. It's a phenomenon doctors call chemobrain.
"Their memory retrieval's very unreliable, so they'll block on words in conversation or forget people's names. It's very aggravating," says Christina Meyers, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Janis's husband, an oncologist named Renato Lenzi, M.D., says her behavior was unusual. "She started saying things that were really out of character."
Ten years after her treatments, Janis still has trouble paying attention.
Dr. Meyers says, "I think a lot of people have that expectation that when treatment ends, the chemotherapy gets out of their body, and they should pop back to normal, and that is not the case at all."
It's not clear exactly how chemo affects the brain, but Dr. Meyers says relaxation exercises can ease symptoms. Medications like Procrit and Ritalin are also used to help patients. "It helps people focus and concentrate, and most of these patients also experience a lot of fatigue, and it helps with their stamina and fatigue as well," she says.
Janis has her own remedies. "I did a lot of journaling -- an enormous amount of reading," she says. "I read all the time. I think that I'm much, much better. However, back to normal? I don't know. I don't know what this is anymore."
But she says she's still trying to get there.
Dr. Meyers says memory and concentration problems can occur more than a year after stopping chemo treatment. However, she says not all patients on chemotherapy will experience these types of problems. More than half of people on chemotherapy develop significant chemobrain symptoms.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to:
http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
If you would like more information, please contact:
M.D. Anderson Information Line
(800) 392-1611
END OF ARTICLE
MY PERSONAL COMMENTS:
In 2002 when chemo that included Adriamycin was recommended for me, I told both my onc and my internist that I was more concerned about the question of what chemo would do to the brain than I was about whether or not it seriously affected the heart. If it is so dangerous for the heart, what would it do to the brain?
I was luckier than many, because I was stage 1 and the question of recurrence of cancer was less likely for me. But both my internist and my onc had no answer to my question and yet encouraged me to do chemo. At the time my onc, a top oncologist in his field, said that in his entire career of 30 years he had only had 5 or 6 seriously impaired patients after they did chemo. (My thought was, well.... how many that were not seriously impaired people did you have over time?)
On my own, because my health insurance would not pay for it, I had a qualified psychiatrist administer some general mental measurement tests to me so that if necessary I would have a baseline for comparison. That cost $250.
I could not afford a comparison after completing chemo and one has not been done so far, but I am having trouble not only with names but also with the kinds of simple task relationship factors that indicate I do have a problem. For example, today I went to put the blender container on the blender base. I actually tried to put it together without screwing on the circular base portion that fits into the blender base. I am very aware of these problems, but because I work at home no one else but my husband sees me and frequently he doesn't see either as he is not always with me.
Although in the past I have done things like renting an automobile and driving in the big city on my own, I am terrified now of doing that because I literally cannot recognize when I am not putting "2 + 2" together in a random situation.
I am only 53 years old and this was not part of my life prior to doing chemo at age 51. I do not believe that this is simply part of "normal aging".
I would never advise anyone to do chemo if they are at an early stage. Everyone I know thinks I have pretty much "recovered" from treatment now that I am 2 years out, even my husband. But these things happen on a daily basis and I know I have not recovered and may get worse.
Personally, I believe part of the problem may be due to the lack of adequate oxygenation due to low blood counts. All of my blood counts still are slightly below normal 2 years after treatment.
It is sad that it took having an oncologist whose wife ended up dealing with it, to start looking away from chemotherapy for better ways to treat human beings who are stuck with the misery of cancer.
A.A. |
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penelopez
Senior User
Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: Chemobrain |
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Hi,
I always thought the chemobrain theory was related to how much chemo you did, that the longer you were on chemo the more likely you were to have chemobrain. For example, people with mets taking chemo for one or two years seem more likely to experience it. I'm just guessing. For myself, I only had 4 A/C and I don't see any after-effects at all at this point in my life. I finished chemo thirteen months ago.
How can one get chemobrain when they say that the chemo doesn't cross the blood/brain barrrier? Is that true? Isn't that why they can't treat brain mets with chemo, but treat it with radiation? The whole thing is a mystery to me. Leo, HELP! LOL
Anyway, I do feel that chemotherapy and its risks are DOWNPLAYED. I remember I sat in a little cubicle and the chemo nurse went over all the risks with me in a very short time. He also showed me some written data on chemotheralpy and its risks and more than once he said it was "overkill." Before I knew what hit me, I was signing papers.
Interesting to see what Leo says regarding the chemobrain theory.
Margie |
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Kristen
Experienced user
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Chemobrain |
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Thanks for posting the article.
I am 15 months out of chemo and I will tell you that I do have memory problems. What I notice the most is my train of thought totaly goes out the window in the middle of a conversation. Its really very strange but I try to just laugh it off at the time, but it is very weird.
I also just wanted to note that I recently read somewhere that they are not sure now that its the chemo that causes "chemobrain" but it may actually be the cancer itself. If I can find this article I will post it for everybody.
Kristen |
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AlaskaAngel
Senior User
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 170
Location: Alaska
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| Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:26 pm Post subject: Causes of chemobrain |
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There could be a lot of reasons for chemobrain, including the cancer itself. For example in my case it could just as well have been the result of using tamoxifen after chemo, which I did for a period of time by medical direction.
In recommending chemo and then tamoxifen to me, my doctors did what is commonly accepted by their peers. It was my choice to make and I made it.
I am currently having exams to find out why I have low-level pain in my right side, as well as low blood counts and high alk-phos and high ALT and AST. I am still considered NED. Abdominal ultrasound and abdominal/pelvic CT have shown no reason.
I have posted under a separate subject about the loss of libido after starting tamoxifen upon completion of chemo.
For someone who started out with good health, no chronic illness, and as Stage 1 bc, I have to share what is happening to me in the 3 years since dx. |
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AlaskaAngel
Senior User
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 170
Location: Alaska
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| Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:56 pm Post subject: Causes of chemobrain |
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Kristin, is the article you are thinking of this one...?
"This summer, the journal Cancer published a study from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center that found that among 84 breast-cancer patients, more than 1/3 showed cognitive impairment prior to chemotherapy. Whether the impairment was directly related to the cancer or how cancer might affect cognitive function isn't known, but the study suggests cancer itself might affect a patient's cognitive function." |
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leo
Site Admin
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 1574
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AlaskaAngel
Senior User
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 170
Location: Alaska
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| Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:58 pm Post subject: Cognitive impairment and chemo |
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Dr. Leo,
Thank you for sharing those sources with us. I had the genuine pleasure of hearing Dr. Ahles discuss this in the past year, and am still appreciative of his presentation and his thoughtful choice of words.
It may be too late for me but I like to think that others can benefit from what I've learned. If anyone wants to listen to Dr. Ahles on this topic, I believe the recorded teleconference is still available online through CancerCare.
A.A. |
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