Podcast: Acupuncture Helps Ease Chemo Brain

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Acupuncture Helps Ease Chemo Brain

December 12, 2025

At the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dr. Jun Mao, an integrative medicine specialist and licensed acupuncturist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presented research showing that both real and sham acupuncture can help improve cognitive function in women treated for breast cancer. Sham acupuncture mimics real acupuncture, but no needles pierce the skin.

Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Mao explain:

• the complexities of chemo brain and why the causes are more than chemotherapy
• the results of the study
• his advice for people who would like to try acupuncture

Listen now or read the transcript.

mexicanmary

Chemo brain is incredibly frustrating. It is good to see actual research being done on things that can help ease the brain fog.

moderators

Thanks for commenting, @mexicanmary . Symptoms like these can have such a big impact on everyday life, so it's encouraging to see more research focused on finding ways to help manage them.

The Mods