New research shows that chemotherapy may be responsible for the shrinkage of key brain areas, but that the effect is only temporary.

The short-term changes could explain the impairment of thinking, memory, and focus that many cancer patients complain of after treatment, according to a Japanese research team.

The changes are marked by a temporary dimunition of certain brain areas that control concentration and focus, problem-solving, execution, and memory. This shrinkage can bring on a general cognitive malaise often referred to as “chemo-brain.”

However, these reductions in the brain were no longer evident three or four years after chemotherapy, the Japanese team reported Monday in the online edition of Cancer.

“These findings can provide new insights for future research to improve the quality of life of cancer patients,” concluded a team led by Dr. Masatoshi Inagaki of the Research Center for Innovative Oncology, part of the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Chiba, Japan.

The current study both supports and contradicts prior research into chemo-brain.

For example, a study released last month by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggested that the adverse affects experienced by chemo patients are largely due to blood-flow changes in the brain that can endure for a decade or more.

The UCLA findings also suggested that anywhere from 25 percent to 80 percent of breast cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy are subject to chemo-brain.

The condition is poorly understood and is often accompanied by a range of other chemo side-effects, such as gastrointestinal disturbances and weakened immune systems.

However, it is widely known that chemotherapy has greatly improved cancer survival rates in recent years.

So, to better understand the treatment’s negative implications, the Japanese team analyzed three years of MRI scans from breast cancer survivors who received follow-up care at the Chiba hospital. The women were between 18 and 55 years of age and none had experienced recurrent breast cancer or had a history of any other type of cancer. Furthermore, none of the patients was still undergoing chemo at the start of the study, and none had had any cases of dementia in their family history.

Over 100 patients underwent an initial MRI brain scan one year after cancer surgery. About half of this group had also undergone chemotherapy.

According to the researchers, patients who had received chemotherapy had smaller brain volumes in areas that control cognitive function, compared to those who had not been exposed to chemo and it’s radiation.

However, imaging taken at the 3-year mark from 130 patients showed no remaining brain size differences whatsoever.

The authors stressed that cancer, on its own, did not explain the reductions in brain volume. Cancer patients often displayed brain volumes that were similar to healthy controls, they said.

Instead, the short-term changes seemed likely linked to chemo and not to malignant disease, they said.

Inagaki’s group cautioned that their finding is just an observed association and does not confirm a cause-and-effect relationship between chemotherapy and brain changes. They called for additional MRI imaging to further investigate the issue.

Dr. Claudine Isaacs, an associate professor of medicine and the director of the Clinical Breast Cancer Program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., described the findings as “encouraging.”

“The problem with chemo-brain is that it is often hard to tell what it is related to, because there are so many factors involved — chemotherapy, the medication that goes with it, the fatigue, and everything else that goes along with a diagnosis of cancer,” she said. “They all play in together.”

“Although this study is relatively quite small, it is a good attempt to look at ways — with MRI, functional PET scans — of trying to get a better handle on a real phenomenon in a structural kind of way,” Isaacs added.

“But we need to be careful,” she cautioned, “because we still don’t have the perfect study yet. So we really can’t tell patients exactly what the parameters are at this point.”

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Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, chemotherapy

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Introduction

Nowadays there is a lot of discussion all over the world, both offline and over the Internet, about mesothelioma. In the USA, there are mesothelioma awareness groups in almost every city in the USA. Besides discussion forums, mesothelioma legal cells, mesothelioma forums, mesothelioma awareness groups etc., today mesothelioma research is a very vast subject. There is even a Mesothelioma Memorial Scholarship that is offered every quarter. This scholarship is given in remembrance and honor of those that have been touched by mesothelioma. Billions of dollars have been spent in trying to fight this dreaded disease and find a cure. Let us begin by asking this simple question – what is mesothelioma?

What is Mesothelioma?

Asbestos and mesothelioma are infamously related. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that affects people who have been exposed to asbestos. It is a rare form of cancer, and affects only those people who have had a history of exposure to asbestos, not others. However, there can be secondary cases, where a person may come into contact with someone who has been exposed to asbestos in the past. The key to mesothelioma, as is apparent here, is exposure to asbestos.

The primary cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. Once the patient has inhaled asbestos dust/fibers, other factors like smoking can aggravate the condition over a period of time. There can be other causes of mesothelioma too. For example, there have been cases diagnosed where the patient has had no history of asbestos exposure. People can get it from people who have had asbestos exposure. Before we proceed further, let us define mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma definition: Mesothelioma is defined as is an uncommon form of cancer, usually associated with previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant (cancerous) cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body’s internal organs. Malignant mesothelioma cells proliferate at the affected area, and are usually very hard to remove totally.

Mesothelioma came to be widely known about only from about the 60s, when the symptoms started manifesting, and mesothelioma cases were diagnosed. Across America, for people working at facilities that were asbestos-related, it became a nightmare. This was more because at that time, asbestos, because of the number of advantages it had over other metals, was widely used across industries all over the world. It was a tragedy of epic proportions waiting to be unleashed, and when it was unleashed, it wrought havoc in the lives of people all across America. Thousands lost their lives to mesothelioma, and even now, thousands more continue to fight this dreaded disease.

Even today, more than 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the USA. Today, mesothelioma victims and their relatives struggle to cope with the disease. For survivors of mesothelioma legal action against the industries that brought this disease on them has been one way of exorcising the pain and agony they have had to undergo. For a number of victims of mesothelioma lawyers have been able to settle cases successfully. There are mesothelioma support groups to help mesothelioma victims and their relatives cope with life in the aftermath of the disease. There are websites like www.mesotheliomaweb.org, www.mesothelioma.com, www.cancer.gov, etc.

Mesothelioma is considered extremely lethal for a number of reasons:

• Mesothelioma diagnosis is often very late. It manifests in a person years after exposure to asbestos, as long as 15 to 20 years.
• While the gestation period is extremely long, as mentioned above, the exposure time is extremely short, as less as two to three months. This means that a person doesn’t even have to have prolonged exposure.
• The average lifespan of a person, after diagnosis, is very short, around 24 months.
• It affects not only a person exposed to asbestos; chances are that he can pass on the asbestos dust or fiber to his near and dear ones as well.

Types of Mesothelioma

Primarily, mesothelioma occurs in three areas, based on which mesothelioma is categorized into:

• Pleural mesothelioma (mesothelioma of the pleura, the outer lining protecting the chest cavity as well as the lungs)
• Pericardial mesothelioma (mesothelioma of the pericardium, the sac enclosing the heart)
• Peritoneal mesothelioma (mesothelioma of the peritoneum, the lining protecting the abdominal cavity)

Based on the types of cells seen in a mesothelioma patient, mesothelioma can again be categorized into 3 types:

• Epithelioid mesothelioma (approximately 50 to 70 percent of all mesothelial cells)
• Sarcomatoid mesothelioma (least common mesothelioma cell type, approximately 10 to 15 percent)
• Biphasic mesothelioma. (approximately 20 to 40 percent of all mesothelial cells)

Symptoms of Mesothelioma

The symptoms of mesothelioma depend on the kind of mesothelioma a patient may have. If a patient is suffering from malignant pleural mesothelioma, he would generally feel a pain in the chest region, accompanied by shallow breathing. These symptoms occur owing to the deposition of fluid in the pleura.

Peritoneal mesothelioma symptoms differ from those of pleural mesothelioma. In the case of localized peritoneal mesothelioma, the symptoms include:

• Fever
• Difficulties in bowel movements
• Anemia
• Abnormalities observed during blood clots

In the case of advanced peritoneal mesothelioma, the symptoms would further include pain, a swelling of the face or the neck, and difficulties in ingestion.

Mesothelioma symptoms usually map to those of other, lesser serious ailments. Therefore it is prudent to consult a specialist to ensure what the symptoms indicate.

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Mesothelioma diagnosis is not an easy task, as the symptoms map to other lesser ailments, as mentioned above. The first step to diagnosing mesothelioma is a review of the patient’s medical history. It is important to know if the patient has had any illnesses whose symptoms mesothelioma too displays. At this time, it is also important to know if the patient has had prior exposure to asbestos. If the patient hasn’t had any illnesses displaying the symptoms related to mesothelioma, and has had exposure to asbestos, then there can be suspicion of mesothelioma.

It is important to do a detailed physical examination of the patient, including x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. The focus would usually be on the abdominal and chest regions. If there is anything suspicious at the end of these examinations, it is advisable to do a biopsy.

A biopsy is usually done by a specialist, either an oncologist or a surgeon. Biopsy involves taking a tissue sample from the patient and subjecting it to specific tests to determine the presence or absence of mesothelioma. Biopsy in the case of mesothelioma can be:

• Thoracoscopy (done by taking tissue samples from inside the chest region, using a thoracoscope)
• Peritoneoscopy (done by taking tissue samples from the abdominal region, using a peritoneoscope)

Once the diagnosis is made, it is vital to learn the stage at which mesothelioma has been detected. Depending on whether the cancer is still at the original site or whether it has spread to other parts of the body, the mesothelioma can be called:

• Localized (still at the original site)
• Advanced (spread to other parts of the body)

Mesothelioma Treatment

Mesothelioma treatments vary depending on the type of mesothelioma, as also the stage at which it has been detected. The three most commonly used treatment forms against mesothelioma are:

• Surgery – Surgically removing the cancerous body part. For example, malignant pleural mesothelioma treatment could involve removal of the affected lung by performing a pneumonectomy.
• Radiation therapy – Exposing the affected part to high-energy rays to kill the malignant cells
• Chemotherapy – Using chemicals/drugs to destroy the malignant cells, either by injecting them into the patient, or intravenously, or by direct placement in the chest or abdomen (intracavitary chemotherapy).

Besides these three options, research is underway to find newer and more effective treatment options. Clinical trials have played a major role in developing newer treatment options.

Mesothelioma Prognosis

In the case of mesothelioma, prognosis is not as accurate as it is with other lesser serious ailments. This is because prognosis usually depends on the phase at which an illness is detected. Mesothelioma is usually detected quite late in a patient, so it becomes difficult to state the cure percentage or lifespan of a patient after treatment. Whatever statistics are available are not as reliable as one would like them to be. While it has not been easy to determine which of the two – pleural or peritoneal – mesothelioma is harder to stage, experts are generally in agreement that a prognosis is quite difficult for both.

However, latest studies and research have shown that mesothelioma patients might not be as bad off as was initially believed. This data is tabulated below.

Stage of Mesothelioma Detection Chances of Survival (No. of Years) Percentage of Patients

Mid to advanced stages 3 years 10%

5 years 5%

Early stages 2 years 50%

5 years 20%

This is just general data on mesothelioma prognosis. There is specific data available n the Internet for specific scenarios and situations.

Resources

• www.mesotheliomaweb.org
• www.mesothelioma.com
• www.cancer.gov
• www.wrongdiagnosis.com
• mesolink.org/legal-guide/mesothelioma-legal-options-faq.html

The writer does freelance writing work. Primary areas are keyword-rich articles (especially in healthcare, insurance, credit), creative writing, blogposts, etc.

For more information please visit: projectrade.com projectrade.com

Tags: chemotherapy, mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma

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Studies show that cancer patients can benefit from exercise. However, the cancer patient should use caution and consult with their physician before undertaking an exercise program. There are certain precautions and contraindications to exercise which include severe pain, infection, severe shortness of breath, acute bone and joint pain, platelets lower than 50,000 per microliter, dizziness causing difficulty in balancing and fever. If these contraindications do not exist, your doctor will be able to tell you if you can began a low to moderate intensity exercise program.

Patients undergoing cancer treatment will be able to maintain endurance, strength, and function by performing moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Although there may be fatigue due to cancer treatment, exercising during this time may diminish the side effects associated with treatment. Exercise increases circulation, oxygen intake, tones the cardiovascular system, improves appetite, promotes better digestion, facilitates elimination, improves the metabolic rate, lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and stimulates the lymphatic system.

Also, there are biological mechanisms resulting from exercise which have powerful anti-depressive and stress-controlling effects. This is profoundly important since a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment can be very stressful and depressing.

The type of exercise for the cancer patient is not that different. Everyone can benefit from weight resistance, cardiovascular/aerobic and flexibility exercises.

Cancer patients may have to start with a low to moderate intensity and build up from there. A cancer patient may work around their symptoms and limitations during cancer therapy. This means that if there is fatigue and/or nausea due to cancer treatment, perhaps that day a short walk and/or some mild and relaxing yoga poses can be performed. The point is to try to work with and around any limitations so that you can continue receiving the benefits of exercise. Patients that are too weak to get out of bed, can move their arms and legs as if bicycling or doing range-of-motion exercises. Once a patient can get out of bed, the next step would be exercising while sitting in a chair followed by exercising while holding on to the chair.

It is never to late to start exercising and cancer patients have a better chance of maintaining their independence and strength. With exercise, the cancer patient will also be able to maintain a positive outlook and handle stress.

At myfitness24-7.com myfitness24-7.com we believe in therapeutic exercise. Exercise at home and save with our exercise dvds. Free shipping. Cecelia Tiemann, D.C. is familiar with the challenges of colon cancer. Since colon cancer runs in the family, exercise programs are an important part of therapy.

Tags: cancer patient, cancer treatment, colon cancer

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It was not a sinister political conspiracy that killed Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most powerful men of the 19th century. It was stomach cancer, the same disease that now causes about eleven thousand deaths each year in the United States alone.

Theories that Napoleon was poisoned with arsenic have abounded since 1961, when an analysis of his hair showed elevated levels of arsenic.

But the most recent review of Napoleon’s autopsy report, written shortly after his death in 1821, concludes the original diagnosis of stomach cancer was correct. The report describes a tumor in the French emperor’s stomach that was approximately four inches long. Dr. Robert M. Genta of the University of Texas and an international team of researchers, upon reviewing the report, concluded that such a large growth could not have been a benign stomach ulcer.

“I have never seen an ulcer of that size that is not cancer,” Dr. Genta said. Dr. Genta is a professor of pathology and internal medicine.

Further analysis suggested that Napoleon’s stomach cancer had reached a stage that would have bee virtually incurable even with modern medical technology. People with cancer at a similar stage today wouldn’t be expected to live more than a year.

Napoleon’s stomach also contained a dark material similar to coffee grounds, a symptom of extensive bleeding in the digestive tract., Genta and his colleagues concluded that the massive bleeding was probably the immediate cause of death. Other historical sources have indicated that Bonaparte had lost about 20 pounds in the last few months of his life–another sign of stomach cancer.

Some of the conspiracy theories probably arose because of incompetent medical treatment in Napoleon’s final days. Doctors who were summoned to treat him may have actually hastened his demise when they gave him regular doses of antimony potassium to make him vomit. It’s now known that such treatment would have depleted his potassium levels, and may have caused a lethal heart condition that disrupted the flow of blood to the brain.

Whatever the cause, Napoleon died at the age of fifty-two.

For more information on the topics covered in this article, click on mystomach.us/stomach_cancer_and_napoleon.html” target=”_blank Stomach Cancer and Napoleon

George McKenzie is a retired TV anchor, medical reporter and radio talk show host.

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