Of Course, It's Real....I Was Warned About It

Study of breast cancer patients suggests 'chemo brain' is real

Breast cancer patients who were treated with chemo in addition to radiation performed worse on tests of cognitive function than patients treated with surgery alone, according to a new study. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

 

By Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

November 14, 2011, 5:19 p.m.

Here’s new evidence that the condition known as “chemobrain” is real: A study of breast cancer patients finds that women who had chemotherapy along with surgery to treat their disease had more trouble kicking their brains into high gear than women who were treated with surgery alone. They also performed much worse on tests of mental function than a group of healthy women who served as controls.

The study, published Monday in Archives of Neurology, included 25 breast cancer survivors who had surgery and chemotherapy, 19 breast cancer survivors who had surgery but no chemotherapy, and 18 women with no history of breast cancer who were picked because their ages, level of education and menopausal status were similar to those of the women who had chemo. All of the study volunteers were asked to solve a series of brain teasers while their brain activity was recorded by

 an MRI machine. Volunteers also took a standardized test to measure their “executive function” and another test to assess how well they thought their brains were working.

The functional MRI results showed that areas of the brain involved in memory, planning and attention weren’t as active in the women who had chemo as in the other breast cancer survivors or the healthy controls

. The women in the chemo group took longer to recognize patterns in a card-sorting game administered by a computer. Worse still, “even though the chemotherapy-treated women took more time on this task, they still made more errors,” according to the study.

The results probably won’t come as a surprise to these women – in the tests used to assess how well they thought their own brains were functioning, the women who had chemo reported more problems with executive function tasks than women in the other two groups.

(The researchers also noticed some functional differences in the brains of breast cancer survivors who did not have chemo, but those differences didn’t seem to translate into problems with problem-solving tasks.) The findings suggest that chemotherapy may cause “neurotoxic brain injury,” the study authors wrote.

But it’s also possible that the disease itself may be responsible. After all, the women who got chemo  tended to be diagnosed with more advanced cases of breast cancer than the women who were treated with surgery alone. Teasing apart whether the aggressiveness of the cancer or the chemo used to fight it is more to blame will take further study, the authors wrote.

A summary of the study is available here.

It is very real.  I just hope it is reversible, at least to some degree.  I can definitely tell I have an impaired cognition since chemo and it is quite frustrating.  

Rabies in Mangum?

This is the third fox taken in town in the last month that showed signs of rabies, according to local officials. The photo was taken in our yard. This gray fox was out in the middle of the day and showed no fear of people.  He was obviously unwell and was frothing at the mouth.  He was shot and removed by Greer County law enforcement officers who stated they would take him to the local vet for examination.

Lacey Covar, M.P.H., epidemiologist at the Oklahoma Department of Health, stated that animals suspected of having rabies are sent for testing after exposing a person, usually by a bite. The cost of testing an animal at the state lab is about $500.00 and is prohibitive for most local governments for routine testing of suspected cases.  She stated that bats and skunks are the most commonly infected animals in Oklahoma, although any mammal can become infected. In the last ten years, there have been lab-confirmed cases of rabies in raccoon, foxes, bobcats, goats, deer, horses and cattle in the state, in addition to dogs and cats. There have been no laboratory confirmed cases of rabies in Greer county since 2008.  

It is important to insure that pets are protected against rabies by routine vaccinations.  Because of the potential for exposure, it is important to remember that any animal that appears to be ill or is acting in an unusual manner should not be handled.  In the case of this fox, it was out in the middle of the day (foxes are nocturnal hunters) and had no fear of humans.  Children should be reminded not to approach or handle any stray or wild animals, especially if they show signs of illness.  

There is no treatment for rabies infection, in animals or in humans, once the symptoms of illness appear.  In case of human exposure, or potential exposure when the animal can't be located and tested, the onset of rabies can be prevented by treatment with a series of 4 or 5 injections given in the arm.

Whole Lot O' Shakin' Goin' On!

For a bunch of folks who spend their summers chasing some of the nastiest storms on the planet, a little shake and rattle really freaks them out.  No, I didn't feel the temblors.  I was out on the rig. There is noise and vibration from the drilling and the wind shakes the trailer almost constantly.  The closest thing I can feel to an earthquake out here is the ground shaking if they get the pipe stuck and set off the jars.  We have little earthquakes in Oklahoma, mostly so small they are not even detected, or at least, not recognized for what they are.  There is a long fault line that runs down the center of the state, from up in Kansas to north Texas.  The one that is causing the current flurry is a much shorter line about half way between Tulsa and OKC.  There was a quake on this fault last fall that I did feel at home.  The one that is most widely known in the state is in the southwest corner in the Wichita Mountains near Meers, not too far from the Ft Sill Army base.

This 5.6 quake was the largest ever in the state.  Before last night, the largest was a 5.3 at El Reno in 1952.  

      Oklahoma Hit With 10 Aftershocks Following 5.6-Magnitude Earthquake

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake and its aftershocks still had residents rattled Sunday. No injuries were reported, and aside from a buckled highway and the collapse of a tower on the St. Gregory's University administration building, neither was any major damage. But the weekend earthquakes were among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity.

Oklahoma typically had about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked, and 1,047 quakes shook the state last year, prompting researchers to install seismographs in the area.

Still, most of the earthquakes have been small.

Saturday night's big one jolted Oklahoma State University's stadium shortly after the No. 3 Cowboys defeated No. 17 Kansas State. Fans were still leaving the game.

"That shook up the place, had a lot of people nervous," Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon said.  (click the link to read the entire story from the AP)