Links Containing Search Words: “chemo brain”

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How covid brain fog may overlap with ‘chemo brain’ and Alzheimer’s

By Ariana Eunjung Cha People with “chemo brain” and covid brain fog could not seem more different: Those with “chemo brain” have a life-threatening disease for which they’ve taken toxic drugs or radiation. Many of those with covid brain fog, in contrast, describe themselves as previously healthy people who have had a relatively mild infection that felt like a cold. So when Stanford University neuroscientist Michelle Monje began studies on long covid, she was fascinated to find similar changes among patients in both groups, in specialized brain cells that serve as the organ’s surveillance and defense system. “It was really quite striking,” Monje said. In cancer patients undergoing treatment, a malfunction in those same cells, known as microglia, are believed to be a cause of the fuzzy thinking that many describe. Scientists have also theorized that in Alzheimer’s disease, these cells may be impeded, making it difficult for them to counteract the cellular wear and tear of aging. Monje’s project is part of a crucial and growing body of research that suggests similarities in the mechanisms of post-covid cognitive changes and other long-studied brain conditions, including “chemo brain,” Alzheimer’s and other post-viral syndromes following infections with influenza, Epstein-Barr, HIV or Ebola. “There is humongous overlap” between long covid and these other conditions, said Avindra Nath, intramural clinical director of the neurological disorders and stroke unit of the National Institutes of Health. Pre-covid, much of the medical research into brains (as well as other organs) was siloed by disease. But during the pandemic, as diverse scientists banded together to understand a complex, multi-organ disease, commonalities among the conditions began coming to light. © 1996-2022 The Washington Post

Related chapters from BN: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 17: Learning and Memory
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory and Learning; Chapter 13: Memory and Learning
Keyword: Alzheimers; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 28259 - Posted: 03.30.2022

How does chemo brain work? One cancer drug might interfere with brain signaling

By Jennifer Couzin-Frankel For the millions of people treated for cancer, “chemo brain” can be an unnerving and disabling side effect. It causes memory lapses, trouble concentrating, and an all-around mental fog, which appear linked to the treatment and not the disease. Although the cognitive effects often fade after chemotherapy ends, for some people the fog persists for years, even decades. And doctors and researchers have long wondered why. Now, a new study suggests an answer in the case of one chemotherapy drug: Brain cells called microglia may orchestrate chemo brain by disrupting other cells that help maintain the brain’s communication system. “I can’t tell you how many patients I see who look at me when I explain [chemo brain] and say, ‘I’ve been living with this for 10 years and thought I was crazy,’” says Michelle Monje, a pediatric neuro-oncologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. It’s still mostly a mystery how common long-term cognitive impairment is after chemo. In one recent study by clinical neuropsychologist Sanne Schagen at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, it affected 16% of breast cancer survivors 6 months after treatment. Monje began to probe the cognitive effects of cancer treatment in the early 2000s, starting with radiation, a therapy that can be far more debilitating than chemotherapy. A Science paper she and her colleagues published in 2003 suggested radiation affected a type of brain cell called microglia, which protect the brain against inflammation. Just like immune cells in the blood, microglia—which make up at least 10% of all brain cells—become activated during injury or infection. © 2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Related chapters from BN: Chapter 17: Learning and Memory; Chapter 4: The Chemistry of Behavior: Neurotransmitters and Neuropharmacology
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory and Learning; Chapter 3: The Chemistry of Behavior: Neurotransmitters and Neuropharmacology
Keyword: Neurotoxins; Glia
Link ID: 25759 - Posted: 12.07.2018

What Is Chemo-Brain?

by Graham McDougall, Jr., behavioral scientist at U. of Alabama Chemo brain is a mental cloudiness reported by about 30 percent of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy. Symptoms typically include impairments in attention, concentration, executive function, memory and visuospatial skills. Since the 1990s researchers have tried to understand this phenomenon, particularly in breast cancer patients. But the exact cause of chemo brain remains unclear. Some studies indicate that chemotherapy may trigger a variety of related neurological symptoms. One study, which examined the effects of chemotherapy in 42 breast cancer patients who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation before and after treatment, found that almost three times more patients displayed signs of cognitive dysfunction after treatment as compared with before (21 versus 61 percent). A 2012 review of 17 studies considering 807 breast cancer patients found that cognitive changes after chemotherapy were pervasive. Other research indicates that the degree of mental fogginess that a patient experiences may be directly related to how much chemotherapy that person receives: higher doses lead to greater dysfunction. There are several possible mechanisms to explain the cognitive changes associated with chemotherapy treatments. The drugs may have direct neurotoxic effects on the brain or may indirectly trigger immunological responses that may cause an inflammatory reaction in the brain. Chemotherapy, however, is not the only possible culprit. Research also shows that cancer itself may cause changes to the brain. In addition, it is possible that the observed cognitive decline may simply be part of the natural aging process, especially considering that many cancer patients are older than 50 years. © 2016 Scientific American,

“Chemo Brain”: Another Side Effect of Chemotherapy

By Lisa Raffensperger Among the many unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy treatment, researchers have just confirmed another: chemo brain. The term refers to the mental fog that chemotherapy patients report feeling during and after treatment. According to Jame Abraham, a professor at West Virginia University, about a quarter of patients undergoing chemotherapy have trouble focusing, processing numbers, and using short-term memory. A recent study points to the cause. The study relied on PET (positron emission tomography) brain scanning to examine brain blood flow, a marker for brain activity. Abraham and colleagues scanned the brains of 128 breast cancer patients before chemotherapy began and then 6 months later. The results showed a significant decrease in activity in regions responsible for memory, attention, planning and prioritizing. The findings aren’t immediately useful for treating or preventing the condition of chemo brain, but the hard and fast evidence may comfort those experiencing chemo-related forgetfulness. And luckily chemo brain is almost always temporary: patients’ mental processing generally returns to normal within a year or two after chemotherapy treatment ends.

Early Tests for Alzheimer’s Pose Diagnosis Dilemma

By GINA KOLATA Marjie Popkin thought she had chemo brain, that fuzzy-headed forgetful state that she figured was a result of her treatment for ovarian cancer. She was not thinking clearly — having trouble with numbers, forgetting things she had just heard. One doctor after another dismissed her complaints. Until recently, since she was, at age 62, functioning well and having no trouble taking care of herself, that might have been the end of her quest for an explanation. Last year, though, Ms. Popkin, still troubled by what was happening to her mind, went to Dr. Michael Rafii, a neurologist at the University of California, San Diego, who not only gave her a thorough neurological examination but administered new tests, like an M.R.I. that assesses the volume of key brain areas and a spinal tap. Then he told her there was something wrong. And it was not chemo brain. It most likely was Alzheimer’s disease. Although she seemed to be in the very early stages, all the indicators pointed in that direction. Until recently, the image of Alzheimer’s was the clearly demented person with the sometimes vacant stare, unable to follow a conversation or remember a promise to meet a friend for lunch. Ms. Popkin is nothing like that. To a casual observer, the articulate and groomed Ms. Popkin seems perfectly fine. She is in the vanguard of a new generation of Alzheimer’s patients, given a diagnosis after tests found signs of the disease years before actual dementia sets in. Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Related chapters from BN: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 4: Development of the Brain
Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 14800 - Posted: 12.18.2010

Can Chemotherapy Lead to Alzheimer’s?

Daniel H. Silverman, M.D., Ph.D. Personal Health columnist Jane Brody recently wrote about chemo brain, the sometimes prolonged mental fogginess that can follow cancer treatments, in “The Fog That Follows Chemotherapy” and “Taking Steps to Cope With Chemo Brain.” Dr. Daniel Silverman, a leading researcher in the field and co-author of “Your Brain on Chemo,” joined the Consults blog to answer readers’ questions. Here, Dr. Silverman responds to two readers’ concerns about chemotherapy, Alzheimer’s disease and attention deficit disorder. Q. Is There a Link Between Cancer Treatment and Alzheimer’s? Dr. Silverman responds: Sally, you have brought up what are really four related great questions that are of critical pertinence to the ultimate welfare of your sister, as well as of literally tens of thousands of older cancer patients who have received chemotherapy, and have subsequently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease: The most important thing to realize is that, no matter how confident your sisters’ neurologists may be that she has Alzheimer’s disease, there’s a very good chance that they’re wrong — unless your sister has undergone biological testing that is specific for Alzheimer’s disease. Such tests might include a biopsy of her brain tissue, a lumbar puncture to extract and analyze cerebrospinal fluid, and/or (least invasively) a brain PET scan that has been interpreted by someone with specific expertise in reading that kind of scan. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Chemotherapy Fog Is No Longer Ignored as Illusion

By JANE GROSS On an Internet chat room popular with breast cancer survivors, one thread — called “Where’s My Remote?” — turns the mental fog known as chemo brain into a stand-up comedy act. One woman reported finding five unopened gallons of milk in her refrigerator and having no memory of buying the first four. A second had to ask her husband which toothbrush belonged to her. At a family celebration, one woman filled the water glasses with turkey gravy. Another could not remember how to carry over numbers when balancing the checkbook. Once, women complaining of a constellation of symptoms after undergoing chemotherapy — including short-term memory loss, an inability to concentrate, difficulty retrieving words, trouble with multitasking and an overarching sense that they had lost their mental edge — were often sent home with a patronizing “There, there.” But attitudes are changing as a result of a flurry of research and new attention to the after-effects of life-saving treatment. There is now widespread acknowledgment that patients with cognitive symptoms are not imagining things, and a growing number of oncologists are rushing to offer remedies, including stimulants commonly used for attention-deficit disorder and acupuncture. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Related chapters from BN: Chapter 1: Introduction: Scope and Outlook
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 20:
Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 10238 - Posted: 06.24.2010

My Brain on Chemo: Alive and Alert

By DAN BARRY Within the chemotherapy alumni corps there exists a mutual respect not unlike the bond shared by veterans of war. Sometimes that respect is silently conveyed; not everyone wants to talk about it. And sometimes it is shared in the shorthand of the battle-hardened. Where? Esophagus. Who? Sloan-Kettering. What kind? Cisplatin, fluorouracil, Drano, Borax ... . Side effects? The usual: nausea, vomiting, hair loss. And the toes are still numb. Yeah. At this point the two chemo alums may begin to sense a phantom metallic taste at the back of their throat, a taste sometimes prompted by the intravenous infusion of the corrosive chemicals intended to save their lives. A strong drink might be in order; maybe two. With that first, taste-altering sip, the two might begin to discuss another side effect that has received attention lately, the one rudely called “chemo brain”: the cognitive fogginess that some patients experience after completing their regimen. That fogginess does not always completely lift, and oncologists are now taking seriously what they might once have dismissed as a complaint rooted in advanced age or cancer fatigue. For me, reading about chemo brain has resurrected that faint taste of metal. I underwent chemotherapy in 1999 and again in 2004, thanks to a profoundly unwelcome recurrence. Depending on one’s perspective, I was both unfortunate and fortunate. Unfortunate in that I endured all the concomitant fears and indignities, twice. Fortunate in that I had the option of chemotherapy, twice. Not all cancers respond; not everyone is so lucky. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Related chapters from BN: Chapter 19: Language and Lateralization
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 15: Language and Lateralization
Keyword: Attention; Neurotoxins
Link ID: 13228 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Brain damage link to cancer drug

A drug widely used to treat cancer may cause brain damage, with the effects lasting for years after the end of treatment, research suggests. The drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), is used, alongside others, to treat cancers of the breast, ovaries, colon, stomach, pancreas and bladder. Tests on mice showed it destroys vital cells in the brain that help to keep nerves functioning properly. The University of Rochester study features in the Journal of Biology. The researchers say their findings could explain some of the neurological side effects associated with chemotherapy - a phenomenon often known as "chemo brain". These include memory loss, poor concentration, and in more extreme cases, seizures, impaired vision and even dementia. Until recently they were often dismissed as the by-products of fatigue, depression and anxiety related both to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. But many patients show symptoms: a previous study by the Rochester team found more than 80% of breast cancer patients reported some form of mental impairment after chemotherapy. The latest study found 5-FU attacks oligodendrocyte cells in the brain and the precursor stem cells from which they originate. These cells play a crucial role in the central nervous system, producing myelin, the protective sheath that keeps nerve fibres in working order. If myelin is not constantly renewed, communication between nerve cells is damaged. The researchers showed that oligodendrocytes virtually disappeared from the brains of mice six months after the animals were treated with 5-FU. (C)BBC

Scientists find 'chemo brain' no figment of the imagination

Cancer survivors, take note. The mental fog and forgetfulness of "chemo brain" are no figment of your imagination. A new UCLA study shows that chemotherapy causes changes to the brain's metabolism and blood flow that can linger at least 10 years after treatment. Reported Oct. 5 in the online edition of the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, the findings may help to explain the disrupted thought processes and confusion that plague many chemotherapy patients. "People with 'chemo brain' often can't focus, remember things or multitask the way they did before chemotherapy," explained Dr. Daniel Silverman, head of neuronuclear imaging and associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Our study demonstrates for the first time that patients suffering from these cognitive symptoms have specific alterations in brain metabolism." Silverman and his colleagues used positron emission tomography (PET) to scan the brains of 21 women who had undergone surgery to remove breast tumors five to 10 years earlier. Sixteen of them had been treated with chemotherapy regimens near the time of their surgeries to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. The team compared PET images evaluating the chemotherapy patients' brain function to PET scans from five breast-cancer patients who underwent surgery only, and 13 control subjects who did not have breast cancer or chemotherapy.

Related chapters from BN: Chapter 17: Learning and Memory
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory and Learning
Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 9432 - Posted: 10.05.2006

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Links Containing Search Words: “chemo brain”