Article in New York Times about Brain Fog (caused by cancer chemotherapy drugs)

[Guest guest]

There is an article in today's new York Times about brain fog suffered

by cancer patients taking chemotherapy drugs that I found interesting

because undoubtably its coming from the same place that brain fog from

mold is coming from.

Anyway, I'm sure many of you already know this but in addition to the

major inflammation they cause, many mycotoxins inhibit protein

synthesis in the body, including the brain, which means that repair

processes, emotional integration of events, the imprinting of new

memories, etc. is also inhibited.. That action is also something that

many chemotherapy drugs posess, which is why they are used to try to

kill (fast growing) cancer cells.

Anyway, I think we should be following this story closely because

there is a chance for research being funded on it THERE that WE don't

have because of the seeming war we are in with those powers that be

(who insist that mold illness doesnt exist and attack those who study

it)

Do people know that the trichothecene mycotoxin T2 toxin (I'm pretty

sure that was the trichothecene mycotoxin used, but not 100%) was

tried as a chemotherapy drug at one point? (but the effort was

abandoned because it made people too sick.)

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/health/29chemo.html

April 29, 2007

Chemotherapy Fog Is No Longer Ignored as Illusion

By JANE GROSS

On an Internet chat room popular with breast cancer survivors, one

thread — called " Where's My Remote? " — turns the mental fog known as

chemo brain into a stand-up comedy act.

One woman reported finding five unopened gallons of milk in her

refrigerator and having no memory of buying the first four. A second

had to ask her husband which toothbrush belonged to her.

At a family celebration, one woman filled the water glasses with

turkey gravy. Another could not remember how to carry over numbers

when balancing the checkbook.

Once, women complaining of a constellation of symptoms after

undergoing chemotherapy — including short-term memory loss, an

inability to concentrate, difficulty retrieving words, trouble with

multitasking and an overarching sense that they had lost their mental

edge — were often sent home with a patronizing " There, there. "

But attitudes are changing as a result of a flurry of research and new

attention to the after-effects of life-saving treatment. There is now

widespread acknowledgment that patients with cognitive symptoms are

not imagining things, and a growing number of oncologists are rushing

to offer remedies, including stimulants commonly used for

attention-deficit disorder and acupuncture.

" Until recently, oncologists would discount it, trivialize it, make

patients feel it was all in their heads, " said Dr. Silverman, a

cancer researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who

studies the cognitive side effects of chemotherapy. " Now there's

enough literature, even if it's controversial, that not mentioning it

as a possibility is either ignorant or an evasion of professional

duty. "

That shift matters to patients.

" Chemo brain is part of the language now, and just to have it

acknowledged makes a difference, " said Anne Grant, 57, who owns a

picture-framing business in New York City. Ms. Grant, who had

high-dose chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in 1995, said she

could not concentrate well enough to read, garbled her sentences and

struggled with simple decisions like which socks to wear.

Virtually all cancer survivors who have had toxic treatments like

chemotherapy experience short-term memory loss and difficulty

concentrating during and shortly afterward, experts say. But a vast

majority improve. About 15 percent, or roughly 360,000 of the nation's

2.4 million female breast cancer survivors, the group that has

dominated research on cognitive side effects, remain distracted years

later, according to some experts.. And nobody knows what distinguishes

this 15 percent.

Most oncologists agree that the culprits include very high doses of

chemotherapy, like those in anticipation of a bone marrow transplant;

the combination of chemotherapy and supplementary hormonal treatments,

like tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors that lower the amount of

estrogen in women who have cancers fueled by female hormones; and

early-onset cancer that catapults women in their 30s and 40s into

menopause.

Other clues come from studies too small to be considered definitive.

One such study found a gene linked to Alzheimer's disease in cancer

survivors with cognitive deficits. Another, using PET scans, found

unusual activity in the part of the brain that controls short-term

recall.

The central puzzle of chemo brain is that many of the symptoms can

occur for reasons other than chemotherapy.

Abrupt menopause, which often follows treatment, also leaves many

women fuzzy-headed in a more extreme way than natural menopause, which

unfolds slowly. Those cognitive issues are also features of depression

and anxiety, which often accompany a cancer diagnosis. Similar effects

are also caused by medications for nausea and pain.

Dr. Tim Ahles, one of the first American scientists to study cognitive

side effects, acknowledges that studies have been too small and lacked

adequate baseline data to isolate a cause.

" So many factors affect cognitive function, and the kinds of cognitive

problems associated with cancer treatment can be caused by many other

things than chemotherapy, " said Dr. Ahles, the director of

neurocognitive research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in

New York.

The new interest in chemo brain is, in effect, a testimony to enormous

strides in the field. Patients who once would have died now live long

enough to have cognitive side effects, just as survivors of childhood

leukemia did many years ago, forcing new treatment protocols to avoid

learning disabilities.

" A large number of people are living long and normal lives, " said Dr.

Ganz, an oncologist at U.C.L.A. who is one of the nation's

first specialists in the late side effects of treatment. " It's no

longer enough to cure them. We have to acknowledge the potential

consequences and address them early on. "

As researchers look for a cause, cancer survivors are trying to figure

out how to get through the day by sharing their experiences, and by

tapping expertise increasingly being offered online by Web sites like

www.breastcancer.org and www.cancercare.org.

There are " ask the experts " teleconferences, both live and archived,

and fact sheets to download and show to a skeptical doctor. Message

boards suggest sharpening the mind with Japanese sudoku puzzles or

compensatory techniques devised to help victims of brain injury. There

are even sweatshirts for sale saying " I Have Chemo Brain. What's Your

Excuse? "

Studies of cognitive effects have overwhelmingly been conducted among

breast cancer patients because they represent, by far, the largest

group of cancer survivors and because they tend to be sophisticated

advocates, challenging doctors and volunteering for research.

Most researchers studying cognitive deficits say they believe that

those most inclined to notice even subtle changes are high-achieving

women juggling careers and families who are used to succeeding at

both. They point to one study that found that complaints of cognitive

deficits often did not match the results of neuro-psychological tests,

suggesting that chemo brain is a subjective experience.

" They say, 'I've lost my edge,' " said Dr. Fleishman, director

of cancer supportive services at Beth Israel and St. Luke's/Roosevelt

hospitals in New York. " If they can't push themselves to the limit,

they feel impaired. "

Dr. Fleishman and others were pressed as to why a poor woman, working

several jobs to feed her children, navigating the health care system

and battling insurance companies, would not also need mental

dexterity. " Maybe we're just not asking them, " Dr. Fleishman said.

Overall, middle-class cancer patients tend to get more aggressive

treatment, participate in support groups, enroll in studies and use

the Internet for research and community more than poor and minority

patients, experts say.

" The disparity plays out in all kinds of ways, " said Ellen ,

the associate executive director of CancerCare, which provides free

support services. " They don't approach their health care person

because they don't expect help. "

But approaching a doctor does not guarantee help. , 48,

who does freelance research on economic trends, complained to her

oncologist in , Miss., that her income had been halved since

her breast cancer treatment last year because everything took longer

for her to accomplish.

She said his reply was a shrug.

" They see their job as keeping us alive, and we appreciate that, " Ms.

said. " But it's like everything else is a luxury. These are

survivor issues, and they need to get used to the fact that lots of us

are surviving. "

Among women like Ms. , lost A.T.M. cards are as common as

missing socks. Children arrive at birthday parties a week early. Wet

clothes wind up in the freezer instead of the dryer. Prosthetic

breasts and wigs are misplaced at the most inopportune times. And

simple words disappear from memory: " The thing with numbers " will have

to do for the word " calculator. "

Lowen, 46, had a hysterectomy and chemotherapy for ovarian

cancer 13 years ago, and says she still cannot recognize neighbors at

the grocery store. " I had a mind like a steel trap, and I ended up

with a colander for a brain, " said Ms. Lowen, a radio and television

talk show host in Syracuse.

The other night, Ms. Lowen set out to find a good place to store her

knitting supplies. She began emptying a cabinet of games that her

teenage daughters no longer played. Meanwhile, she noticed a blown

light bulb and went to find a replacement. That detour led to another,

and five hours later she had scrubbed every surface and tidied the

contents of eight drawers. But she still had no storage space for her

knitting supplies.

" I have an almost childlike inability to follow through on anything, "

Ms. Lowen said.

Solutions come in many forms for women whose cancer treatment has left

them with cognitive deficits.

Sedra Jayne Varga, 50, an administrative assistant in family court in

Manhattan, is part of a research study of the stimulant Focalin, which

she said had helped. But Ms. Varga also plans to have laser surgery on

her eyes so that losing her glasses will no longer be an issue.

Lu Ann Hudson, 44, a designer of financial databases in Cincinnati,

relies on a key fob that sets off a beep in her car when she is

looking for it in parking lots. Terry-Lynne Jordan, 43, who analyzes

environmental incidents for an oil company in Calgary, Alberta, uses

the calendar on her computer and voice mail messages to herself to

remind her of meetings.

And Debbie Kamplain, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mother in Peoria,

Ill., hired a $30-an-hour personal organizer to help her sell a house,

buy another and get ready to move her family to Indiana next month.

But it is Ms. Kamplain's 2 ½-year-old son, , who sees to it that

she stays on task. Long before could talk, he would pull her

over to the refrigerator if she got distracted while getting him a

drink.

" Poor kid, " Ms. Kamplain said. " I say I'm going to do something,

forget about it immediately, and he's the one who has to remind Mommy

about stuff. "