The systems of the body most affected by chemotherapy drugs include visual and semantic memory, attention and motor coordination. These effects can impair a chemotherapy patient's ability to understand and make decisions regarding treatment, perform in school or employment and can reduce quality of life. Survivors often report difficulty multitasking, comprehending what they have just read, following the thread of a conversation, and retrieving words. Breast cancer survivors who were treated with chemotherapy may find it harder to perform tasks than survivors whose treatment was surgical. One study demonstrated that, a year after treatment, the brains of cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy (after surgery) had physically shrunk while those of people only treated surgically had not.<unk>  comes as a surprise to many cancer survivors. Often, survivors think their lives will return to normal when the cancer is gone, only to find that the lingering effects of<unk>  impede their efforts. Working, connecting with loved ones, carrying out day-to-day tasks—all can be very challenging for an impaired brain. Although<unk>  appears to be temporary, it can be quite long-lived, with some cases lasting 10 years or more.
Post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment
Paraneoplastic syndrome
Postmenopausal confusion
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction
AIDS fatigue
Sleeping disorders following traumatic brain injury
Autoimmune disease in women
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy