[NVIC Oct 9, 2006] Chemo has long-term impact on brain function, study finds

[NVIC Oct 9, 2006] Chemo has long-term impact on brain function, study finds

National Vaccine Information Center Newsletter

e-NEWS
October 9, 2006


"Experts estimate that at least 25 percent of chemotherapy patients are
affected by symptoms of confusion, so-called chemo brain, and a recent
study by the University of Minnesota reported an 82 percent rate, the
statement said. "People with 'chemo brain' often can't focus, remember
things or multitask the way they did before chemotherapy," Silverman said.
"Our study demonstrates for the first time that patients suffering from
these cognitive symptoms have specific alterations in brain metabolism." -
Reuters

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:

It should be no surprise to anyone that when medical doctors inject toxic
chemicals into cancer patients in an attempt to "kill" the cancer, it has
long term effects on brain and immune system function. Medical
interventions, from prescription drugs to vaccinations to chemo therapy,
carry an inherent risk of injury or death. That is why no medical
intervention should ever be forced on a human being without voluntary,
informed consent.

Several months ago, medical doctors trying force a 16-year old boy to
undergo chemotherapy against his will, persuaded the state of Virginia to
prosecute his parents on charges of child medical neglect for supporting
their son's decision to refuse chemotherapy. While a judge ultimately found
the parents not guilty, the judge only set the boy and his parents free
after turning them over to another medical doctor who promised to work with
the family and not force chemotherapy.

Now that the brain damaging risks of chemotherapy are finally revealed,
just like the brain damaging effects of anti-depressants, ADHD drugs and
vaccines have been revealed, it is time to make it illegal for medical
doctors to force medical treatment on U.S. citizens for any reason. There
is no freedom more fundamental than the right to voluntarily choose what
you are willing to risk your life or the life of your child for when making
health care decisions.

Chemo has long-term impact on brain function, study finds

CNN
Reuters
October 5, 2006

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=gwwk4ybab.0.oqdm4ybab.oblmlwbab.8914&ts=S0208&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2006%2FHEALTH%2F10%2F05%2Fchemo.brain.reut%2Findex.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Chemotherapy causes changes in the brain's
metabolism and blood flow that can last as long as 10 years, a discovery
that may explain the mental fog and confusion that affect many cancer
survivors, researchers said on Thursday.

The researchers, from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that
women who had undergone chemotherapy five to 10 years earlier had lower
metabolism in a key region of the frontal cortex.

Women treated with chemotherapy also showed a spike in blood flow to the
frontal cortex and cerebellum while performing memory tests, indicating a
rapid jump in activity level, the researchers said in a statement about
their study.

"The same area of the frontal lobe that showed lower resting metabolism
displayed a substantial leap in activity when the patients were performing
the memory exercise," said Daniel Silverman, the UCLA associate professor
who led the study.

"In effect, these women's brains were working harder than the control
subjects' to recall the same information," he said in a statement.

Experts estimate that at least 25 percent of chemotherapy patients are
affected by symptoms of confusion, so-called chemo brain, and a recent
study by the University of Minnesota reported an 82 percent rate, the
statement said.

"People with 'chemo brain' often can't focus, remember things or multitask
the way they did before chemotherapy," Silverman said. "Our study
demonstrates for the first time that patients suffering from these
cognitive symptoms have specific alterations in brain metabolism."

The study, published Thursday in the online edition of Breast Cancer
Research and Treatment, tested 21 women who had surgery to remove breast
tumors, 16 of whom had received chemotherapy and five who had not.

The researchers used positron emission tomography scans to compare the
brain function of the women. They also compared the scans with those of 13
women who had not had breast cancer or chemotherapy.

Positron emission tomography creates an image of sections of the body using
a special camera that follows the progress of an injected radioactive tracer.

Researchers used the scans to examine the women's resting brain metabolism
as well as the blood flow to their brains as they did a short-term memory
exercise.

Silverman said the findings suggested that PET scans could be used to
monitor the effects of chemotherapy on brain metabolism. Since the scans
already are used to monitor patients for tumor response to therapy, the
additional tests would be easy to add, he said.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, with some 211,000 new
cases diagnosed each year, the statement said.



NVIC is funded through the financial support of its members and does not
receive any government subsidies. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-
founder.

Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed
consent rights at
www.nvic.org