"Cancer Brain" and Massage
Many of our oncology massage clients strongly believe their chemotherapy or radiation therapy has caused a distressing cognitive dysfunction that they label chemobrain or chemofog. The medical community is intensely skeptical, knowing that few chemotherapeutic agents are able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
At the
2008 Annual
Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology
two small studies were
presented which offer another perspective on the controversy. The studies didn't draw much attention in the media, but
are of interest to cancer patients and their oncology massage therapists.
Cognitive Impairment in Women Newly Diagnosed with Breast Cancer
The Acute Cognitive Effects of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Women with Breast
Cancer
The studies suggests that "chemobrain" is not caused by
chemo (or radiation) but by the patient's response to the stresses of diagnosis and
treatment, worries about the future, changes in interpersonal relationships, alterations in daily
routine, etc. The researchers found comparable cognitive impairments in breast
cancer patients receiving chemo or radiation and in
patients who received neither chemo nor radiation.
There is no question that the cancer experience often results in cognitive impairment. Yet another factor not analyzed here is response to surgical anesthesia. Many surgical patients, not just those with cancer, experience significant short and/or long term cognitive impairment.
Perhaps this malady should simply be labeled "cancer-brain". Whether the cause is stress, chemo, radiation, anesthesia, or another factor waiting to be discovered, having cancer remains one of life's most stressful experiences. In many patients' minds "My body betrayed me." already murmurs. For some, "My mind is betraying me." now mutters as well. The additional stress is all pervasive.
Stress makes every unpleasant aspect of the cancer journey even worse. Massage, meditation and visualization are commonly suggested to defuse stress. Of the three, massage is the most accessible for most people - it requires little self discipline, is easily accomplished (especially while in great distress) and has both immediate and lasting results.
Dx: Cancer Brain .... Rx: Massage
