Summary of our weekly group discussion ~ 17th December 2016
CHEMO-BRAIN' - WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT IMPACT ON US?
Chemo-brain is a common term used
to describe the thinking, attention and memory problems that occur during and
following cancer treatments.
Though chemo-brain is a widely used term, it is
somewhat misleading because even those of us who had not received chemotherapy
reported a notable impairment in our thinking abilities. However, Naz told us
it is widely recognised that the trauma of a breast cancer diagnosis plays a
significant role and that hormonal treatments also contribute to a reduction in
our cognitive abilities.
Although there were exceptions,
the overwhelming majority of us described experiencing significant difficulties
in relation to thinking and retaining information, particularly our short-term
memory and working memory ie holding one task/piece of information in mind
while completing another task. Sometimes our errors were small, and we could
laugh off our lapses in memory, but at other times, we felt our thinking
problems were much more significant, undermining both our confidence and our
ability to function in our everyday lives, for instance at work, in social
settings and our relationships with our friends and families.
Naz explained that it is clear
that the brain networks involved in processing (cognitive) information
efficiently are heavily impaired in women with a breast cancer diagnosis. Both
the attached paper and our own experiences highlight that these difficulties
continue to impact on us to a varying degree, sometimes over many years.
Naz told us that there is also
solid evidence to show that brain grey and white matter is reduced as a result
of a breast cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment. The mechanisms in our
brains which are involved in cognitive function have to work harder to achieve
similar outcomes to those which individuals without a breast cancer diagnosis
(matched controls) achieve with less effort which explains why some of us experienced
mental as well as physical fatigue.
Psychological interventions focus
on our depression and anxiety, yet our symptoms and experiences only served to
highlight how little support and understanding is available to us. We need the
medical world to take 'chemo-brain' and the consequences of it seriously as
well as interventions which improve the brain’s attention and memory and in
turn our overall psychological well-being.
#ResilienceDiscussion
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