There has been increasing evidence that ADT can negatively affect aspects of attention, memory and cognition. Virtually all of the studies to date, however, have been done primarily with Caucasian populations in North America. This study out of China involved prostate cancer patients, 33 on ADT plus 32 not on ADT, as well as age- and education-matched healthy controls. The authors found that the Chinese men on ADT showed cognitive impairment in several domains including memory, attention, and information processing. This is similar to what has been reported in studies of men in North America.
It would be interesting to know how many patients, who are about to start ADT, are warned of the potential cognitive impact and given any counselling by their healthcare providers. We would be happy to hear from our readers about what they were told would help prevent cognitive impairment from ADT…and what they have personally found to be effective.
Yang J, Zhong F, Qiu J, Wang K. 2015. Cognitive function in Chinese prostate cancer patients on androgen-deprivation therapy: A cross-sectional study. Asia Pac J Clin Oncol. 9 April 2015 [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25856786