From the beginning of chemotherapy’s use, most doctors weren’t particularly concerned about the effects of these known toxins on the brain. Many patients blame the medical profession for the slow recognition of the chemo brain side effect. In my opinion, that’s an unduly harsh criticism. A number of factors contributed to the failure to address the problem of chemo brain:
1.Saving or extending the life of the person had the highest priority. Without survival, the brain would be useless.
2.The brain was assumed to be static, and the number of brain cells was supposed to decline with age anyway.
3.The blood brain barrier, a structure in the central nervous system (CNS) that restricts entry of potentially harmful chemicals and bacteria, was assumed to keep out chemotherapy drugs.
4.Patients did not report symptoms to their physicians; many are still so terrified by the illness that they just want to leave doctors’ offices as soon as possible and think as little as possible about what is happening to themselves.
5.Obvious declines in cognitive performance could be easily attributed to stress, depression, hormonal changes, or aging.
In recent years, evidence began to emerge that showed 2 and 3 above to be false.
"We used to think that chemo drugs couldn't cross the blood-brain barrier, or at least not in significant amounts, said Timothy Ahles, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “But if adjuvant chemotherapy can cause cognitive problems even if they don't get into the CNS, then maybe it doesn't take that much to cause problems." . . .
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Susan Hardwicke, Ph.D.
VABION LLC
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