Chemotherapy memory loss

This May Help Offset The Burden Of Increasing Healthcare Costs. What medications are used for memory loss? How can you manage memory changes from chemotherapy? Can phenytoin cause memory loss?

What are the problems with chemotherapy? Chemo brain can also be called chemo fog , cancer-related cognitive impairment or cognitive dysfunction.

Evidence has been building that cancer chemotherapy can impair memory for at least a few years after treatment. These are examples of symptoms of “chemobrain,” a possible side effect of chemotherapy that can affect cognitive or thinking abilities. It’s important to talk to your health care team if you’re having any of the symptoms of chemobrain during or after treatment.

Symptoms of Chemobrain. The cerebral cortex is a sheet of tissue that makes up the outer layer of the brain. Some chemotherapy ( chemo ) treatments have been linked to problems with memory , learning, and thinking. This particular chemo side effect is often referred to as chemo brain.

Many patients will regain their normal abilities to think and remember after chemo stops, but these chemo side effects may continue in some patients.

Whether you have memory or concentration problems (sometimes described as a mental fog or chemo brain ) depends on the type of treatment you receive, your age, and other health-related factors. Chemo brain seems to happen more often with high doses of chemo , and is more likely if the brain is also treated with radiation. Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy may cause difficulty with thinking, concentrating, or remembering things.

But because chemo brain is usually mild and most often goes away in time, chemo that’s proven to work against the cancer should not be changed to try to prevent this side effect. Post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment (PCCI) (also known in the scientific community as CRCIs or Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairments and in lay terms as chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction or impairment, chemo brain , or chemo fog ) describes the cognitive impairment that can result from chemotherapy treatment. But many cancer survivors who have undergone chemotherapy treatments have shown signs of mild memory loss and daily forgetfulness, which is coined as the term, “ chemo brain.

During chemotherapy treatments, you may notice memory or thinking changes, sometimes referred to as chemobrain. Chemobrain affects your cognitive or thinking abilities including: memory , attention, concentration, word finding or retrieval, multi-tasking, learning, and sense of direction. This includes the following symptoms or changes: Trouble concentrating, focusing, or paying attention. Mental fog or disorientation.

Difficulty with spatial orientation. Problems with understanding. Short-term memory loss is the loss of everyday information that has recently been learned. You may forget new facts, people’s names, where things have been put, and what to do next.

Remember that forgetfulness can be a normal part of everyday life and does not always mean you have short-term memory loss. Osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) is the most common late effect of chemotherapy. Most chemotherapy drugs cause bone loss to accelerate and changes in diet that accompany cancer and its treatment can amplify the problem.

The greatest concern over the long run are fractures that can result from this bone loss. Finally, the development of cancer tumors alongside exposure to chemotherapy led to a decrease in frontal lobe and hippocampal volume. This is a newer term defined as “ Memory loss , particularly short term memory loss , as a result of chemotherapy.

Some describe it as brain fog or difficulty staying concentrated on one particular thing. Chemo brain is a common term used by cancer survivors to describe thinking and memory problems that can occur during and after cancer treatment. This is the kind of cognitive decline that usually occurs with aging. When a person has short-term memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, there can be sudden memory or attention deficit.

Exercises to combat the effects of chemotherapy include sudokus, memory games and similar brain-focused exercises. Most women eventually do recover from the effects of “chemo brain. Until very recently, these cognitive side effects were often dismissed as the byproduct of fatigue, depression, and anxiety related to cancer diagnosis and treatment. Memory loss can be caused by a variety of diseases and conditions that may worsen if left untreated. Medical Examination A medical exam for memory loss will include a complete medical history.

Many cancer patients after or during treatment not involving chemo experience this this problem too. Posttraumatic Stress is the most common cause and it frequently goes undiagnosed.