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Chemotherapy May Cause Memory
Loss
Standard-dose chemotherapy may cause long-term memory problems,
say researchers at Dartmouth Medical School. Psychologist Tim Ahles, at a March
28 meeting of the American Cancer Society, reported that he and his colleagues
contacted 71 patients who underwent chemotherapy for breast cancer or lymphoma.
When compared to 58 patients whose cancer was treated by surgery or radiation,
those treated with chemotherapy were twice as likely to score poorly on
intelligence tests an average of 10 years after treatment.
The results are not news to cancer survivors who’ve
complained about memory loss for years, said Ahles. Although the chemotherapy
patients scored lower when tested, most were still thinking clearly and
functioning well, he said. |
