‘Chemo brain’ strikes cancer patients
Imagine enduring your first round of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer, only to realize the expected side effects wouldn’t be the most frustrating.
“After my first treatment, it took about a week before I noticed it,” Melissa Justice said. “I was really concerned at first because I’m an accountant and I analyze things for a living. So when I went back to work and forgot phone numbers and short-term things, it was very strange for me because I usually remember everything.”
Justice was experiencing cancer treatment-related cognitive impairment, or “chemo brain,” a condition that arises after chemotherapy treatment in some patients. Mundane tasks, like recalling items on the grocery list or remembering where the keys are, become difficult to complete.
In this case, Justice’s symptoms began quickly and lasted throughout the course of her treatment, but they were most intense directly following a chemo session.
“People had to remind me of things I forgot, and at first I didn’t believe that they already told me. But I started realizing it was a continuous thing,” she said. “It’s like you’re swimming upstream and can see what you want but you just can’t get there.”
Dr. Polly Niravath, who specializes in oncology and hematology and heads Houston Methodist Hospital’s survivorship clinic, treated Justice. Niravath recommends systems like reminder calendars and Post-it notes to help patients organize their thoughts.
When the effects start and how long they last are unique in each case. For Melissa, she was aware right away that there was some sort of cognitive disconnect within her brain following the chemotherapy, and she
encourages others in similar situations to do the same.
While chemotherapy may not be the sole cause of this socalled chemo brain condition, it is a major factor. The American Cancer Society suggests that other brain problems, especially short-term issues, could result from the combination of the disease itself, surgery, hormone treatments and/or age.
Currently there are no remedies to prevent chemo brain effects, but scientests are studying the condition, looking at the correlation between certain chemo drugs and subsequent memory problems. Some think there might be drugs that could protect the brain during cancer treatment.
Justice took her doctor’s advice and began keeping task lists and making calendar appointments to remind herself of responsibilities.
“My advice to others who are going through chemo brain would be to not fight it,” she said. “Don’t try to keep it a secret because you don’t want people to know. It was easier for me to deal with when I let people know because they understood and supported me through it.”