Recently Diagnosed or Relapsed? Stop Looking For a Miracle Cure, and Use Evidence-Based Therapies To Enhance Your Treatment and Prolong Your Remission
Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
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Myeloma and ChemoBrain
Myeloma and chemobrain have finally come of age. Coming of age may have taken decades but the information linked below finally talks about chemobrain as a serious side effect of chemotherapy.
I have lived with my incurable blood cancer, multiple myeloma, since my diagnosis in early 1994. I began experiencing symptoms of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (chemobrain) shortly after my conventional therapies ended in 1997.
While chemobrain has been written about occasionally over the years, oncology has often dismissed it as a legitimate adverse event.
I have written about chemobrain many times over the years mostly because conventional oncology has denied its existence as a side effect. I believe that chemobrain is preventable if the MM patient takes the right steps before they undergo therapy and that chemobrain can be healed, again, if the patient practices the right strategies.
- Another Chemobrain Therapy?
- Chemobrain – Myeloma – Prevent, Heal
- Myeloma – Late Stage Chemobrain?
- CIPN Chemobrain Related!?
The most effective therapy for healing my chemobrain-
Email me at David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com with questions about myeloma in general or chemobrain specifically.
Hang in there,
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment: A Practical Guide for Oncologists
“Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is the subacute, chronic, and sometimes progressive cognitive decline that patients with cancer experience because of cancer itself and/or cancer treatments.
Treatments linked to CRCI include:
- chemotherapy,
- radiation therapy,
- surgery,
- hormonal therapy,
- targeted therapy with antibodies and
- small molecule inhibitors,
- and immunotherapy.
CRCI affects up to 60%-75% or more of patients with cancer1,2 and has a significant impact on patients’ overall well-being. CRCI affects patients’ ability to work and social relationships and is associated with decreased quality of life and overall survival regardless of cancer type.1,2 …
Some oncologists may still debate the existence of CRCI, while others are unaware of its existence. Historically, the existence of CRCI has been controversial…
However, there is compelling evidence from several lines of research that CRCI is cancer-induced or cancer treatment–induced and a measurable syndrome. For example, preclinical studies have shown that diverse cancer therapies directly contribute to glial and neuronal cell injury that drives structural brain changes and cognitive deficits.4
Neuroimaging studies of CRCI in patients show significant and widespread structural and functional brain changes related to cancer treatments.5,6 Clinical biomarker studies have shown that chemotherapy is associated with cellular and brain aging.7–9…
Dismissing cognitive symptoms in patients with cancer as simply having stress or anxiety is inappropriate,1 especially when there is no evaluation of or treatment plan for stress or anxiety provided, and can be considered consistent with medical gaslighting.
Medical gaslighting describes the behavior of a medical professional dismissing or downplaying a patient’s complaint, leading the patient to doubt themselves and question their reality/sanity.17,18 This behavior may be driven by societal biases, stereotypes, or lack of knowledge, and disproportionately affects women and minorities.17,18…
Because of a lack of evidence-based guidelines and the challenges in diagnosing and managing CRCI, we propose a practical approach for oncologists to screen and discuss CRCI with patients routinely, which is based on our collective experience with CRCI. If CRCI is suspected, we suggest not waiting for the results of formal neurocognitive testing and instead implementing low-risk, simple interventions that may improve the patient’s experience with CRCI (Fig 1)…
In summary, CRCI is a common disorder that affects many patients with cancer during and after therapy. This disorder significantly reduces the patient’s quality of life and well-being. CRCI is currently challenging to diagnose and difficult to treat. While further research to guide evidence-based diagnosis and treatment strategies are being developed, we aim to provide a practical guide for oncologists to effectively screen and manage CRCI in the office setting and increase awareness of this clinically relevant condition.”
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