Breast cancer survivors can have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, discovers the study

Cancer does not usually associate with health benefits, but a new study suggests that it could reduce the risk of dementia for some patients.

A study led by the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Seoul suggests that breast cancer survivors could have a slightly lower possibility of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to those who had not received treatment.

In the study, which was published in Jama Network Open, the data of more than 70,000 breast cancer survivors were compared to a control group without cancer for an average of 7.3 years.

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In general, breast cancer survivors, particularly those who were 65 years old or more, showed a risk of 8% lower dementia within five years after treatment.

The researchers found that those who received radiation showed the greatest risk reduction.

The study was adjusted to other factors that could have contributed to the risk of Alzheimer’s, including age, income levels, geographical location, body mass index, comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and chronic renal disease) and health -related behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity), the study declared.

This result conflicts with the previous concerns about breast cancer patients who experience a cognitive decrease after treatment.

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Chemotherapy has previously been related to a condition called “chemotherapy”, where patients experience cognitive impairment.

“The chemotherapy brain refers to cognitive dysfunction, including thought and memory problems, which occur in cancer patients during and after chemotherapy,” the researchers wrote.

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However, this is different from Alzheimer’s, with the “chemotherapy brain”, cognitive deterioration is described as “subtle” and does not prevent the patient from recovering remote memories.

“The concerns about the chemotherapy brain and the long -term adverse effects of breast cancer treatment in cognition are common, but our findings suggest that this treatment does not lead directly to the EA,” said the researchers.

In fact, they said, some studies have shown that certain medications administered to patients with breast cancer can help reduce the formation of amyloid and tau proteins in the brain, which is one of the characteristics of the Alzheimer’s.

According to findings, researchers recommend that breast cancer patients take measures to reduce modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s, such as smoking and diabetes, together with the reception of cancer’s standard treatment.

Study limitations

The study had some limitations, the team recognized.

Information about the patient breast cancer stage and the radiation dose was not available. It is also possible that the number of Alzheimer’s diagnoses be underestimated.

In addition, because the study focused on patients with “operable” breast cancer, it may not represent the risk of Alzheimer’s among elderly patients, those with “critical comorbilities” or patients with advanced disease in advanced stage, the researchers said.

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“We could not evaluate the long -term increase in the risk of AD because our monitoring period was relatively short (maximum, 11 years),” they wrote.

“Additional studies are justified with long -term observation periods to examine long -term associations between the risk of EA and the duration of breast cancer survival.”

Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., Director of Sciences of the Alzheimer’s Association and Leader of Medical Affairs in Chicago, said that this research topic has been explored in previous studies.

“There have been many published reports of observation studies of cancer survivors with a diminished risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but also some who found a higher risk,” said Carrillo, who did not participate in this most recent study, News Digital.

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The expert warns against the drawing of “abrupt conclusions” based on this study.

“Previous research on survival and cancer treatment and Alzheimer’s risk, largely quoted by the authors of this article, has produced mixed results, even contradictory,” said Carrollio. “More research is needed, especially longer studies in more representative study populations.”

The most interesting aspect of this study, said Carrillo, is the finding that radiotherapy was associated with 23% of Alzheimer’s risk reduction, while other cancer treatments did not show risk reduction.

This could be due to radiation capacity for lower levels of inflammation, the expert suggested.

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“Lowering inflammation in the body and brain can reduce amyloid beta or beta beta production, delaying the beginning of symptomatic Alzheimer’s,” he said. “More research is needed to see if this is, in fact, the case.”

According to the Association of the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 7.2 million Americans over 65 live with Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s association.

News Digital contacted study researchers to comment.