What Is Chemobrain?

The term chemobrain refers to a cognitive problem. It can be defined as reduced mental acuity, the inability to remember certain things, and difficulty completing tasks or learning new ones.

Chemobrain affects the daily lives of many people with cancer, and can occur during and after chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

What Causes Chemobrain?

Chemo brain can cause difficulties thinking, concentrating, and doing tasks. These problems can be mild, however, they can be so serious that people have difficulties working or carrying out their daily activities.

Cognitive problems can be caused by chemotherapy used to treat cancer. Many cancer treatments, including certain types of chemotherapy and radiation, can cause short-term and long-term problems.

Chemobrain could also happen from the cancer itself, and perhaps from other drugs used to treat cancer. Some people with cancer have brain problems even if they haven’t had chemotherapy.

On the other hand, anxiety, stress, fatigue, the patient’s age, depression and diseases such as diabetes or hypertension, are factors that can cause problems in the short term.

Chemo brain may go away after treatment is finished. However, for some people it can last for months or years after treatment is finished.

What are the symptoms of chemo brain?

Symptoms vary from person to person, but some of them are:

• They have trouble concentrating, have short attention spans.
• Difficulty remembering details such as names and dates.
• They can’t multitask, like answering the phone while cooking, without forgetting one of them.
• They take longer to finish things, they are more disorganized. They are also slower to reason and process information.

How is it treated?

The duration of the chemobrain is an important factor in assessing the degree to which it affects a person’s life. In most people, the effects on the brain last for a short time after chemotherapy is finished.

People with this problem are generally aware of differences in their reasoning. Many times this problem is not reported to your cancer care team until it affects your daily life.

If you have chemobrain and are undergoing chemotherapy, it is best to let your doctor know.

What can you do to cope with chemo brain?

There are many things you can do to deal with chemo brain. Here are some of them.

• Use memory aids like sticky notes and calendars to help you remember events and tasks. Some people always carry a notebook with them to write down important dates, to-do lists, and people’s names.
• Exercise your brain: for example, solve crossword puzzles or learn a new language.
• Get plenty of rest and sleep.
• Get regular physical activity and try to eat a diet rich in vegetables.
• Establish routines, especially for daily tasks, so that you get used to doing the same things in the same order every day.
• Don’t try to multitask and ask for help when you need it.
• Keep a diary and record memory problems : write down how much you slept, the stress level or other things that have happened. These notes can help your doctor suggest more things that are helpful.
• Seek support : Talk to your family and close friends about the problem so they know what’s going on.

Can chemo brain be prevented?

Until now, the way to prevent chemobrain is unknown. For some people, cancer treatment can mean problems with memory, as well as problems with reasoning and finding the right words.

The causes of cancer-related brain problems and their treatment are still being studied. Chemobrain appears to occur more frequently with high-dose chemotherapy, being more likely if cancer treatment combines chemotherapy and radiation.

An unavoidable side effect in some cases

Chemobrain is a mild disorder and often goes away over time. Therefore, chemotherapy that has been shown to work against cancer should not be changed to prevent this side effect.