Cancer patients struggling with mental fog during chemotherapy may have found a surprisingly straightforward solution. A new clinical trial reveals that regular exercise can meaningfully improve attention and cognitive function in people undergoing treatment, offering hope to the majority of chemotherapy patients who battle this frustrating side effect.
The cognitive damage wrought by cancer treatment is widespread. Up to 80 percent of chemotherapy patients experience some degree of cancer-related cognitive impairment, which manifests as trouble concentrating, memory lapses, and difficulty managing multiple tasks simultaneously. The condition, commonly called chemo brain, can persist long after treatment ends and significantly impact quality of life.
Researchers at the University of Rochester and Wilmot Cancer Institute decided to test whether two interventions known to benefit brain health elsewhere could help protect against chemo brain. The Phase II clinical trial, published in CANCER journal, examined exercise and low-dose ibuprofen, which combat inflammation through different biological pathways.
Eighty-six chemotherapy patients who reported cognitive difficulties were randomly assigned to one of four groups for six weeks. Some received a home-based walking and resistance exercise program called EXCAP along with ibuprofen. Others got EXCAP with a placebo, ibuprofen alone, or placebo only.
The results pointed clearly toward exercise as the stronger intervention. Patients who completed the EXCAP program performed significantly better on attention tests than those in the placebo group, whether they took ibuprofen or not. Both exercise groups also showed measurable improvement in how friends, family, and coworkers perceived their cognitive abilities, with fewer reports of concentration problems.
Ibuprofen showed mixed results. While it helped with attention measures, patients taking the medication actually showed less improvement in short-term verbal memory than those without it, a finding researchers said requires further investigation.
Lead researcher Michelle C. Janelsins noted the significance of finding an intervention that not only addressed chemo brain but brought additional health benefits. "This is one of the first studies specifically designed to assess these interventions for cancer-related cognitive impairment during chemotherapy," she said, emphasizing that larger trials will be needed to confirm the findings.
Janelsins cautioned that cancer patients interested in starting an exercise program should consult their healthcare provider first to ensure it fits their individual medical situation. She also suggested that future research should explore different exercise durations and intensities, as well as varying doses of ibuprofen.
Author Jessica Williams: "Exercise has long been a hammer in the medical toolbox, but proving it works specifically for chemo brain during active treatment is a significant validation for patients desperate for something that actually works."
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