Chemotherapy Effects
Chemotherapy refers to the treatment of a disease by means of chemicals meant to kill cells, typically cells of micro-organisms or cancer. This treatment works by attacking and killing cells which divide very quickly as cancer cells do. Unfortunately, chemotherapy damages cells with a rapid division speed normally encountered with many body functions; the bone marrow, the hair follicles and the digestive tract will be the most affected. Hence, these are the anatomical elements most affected by chemotherapy effects. The most frequent adverse reactions that become manifest during and after chemotherapy include hair loss, the inflammation of the soft membranes in the digestive tract or mucositis and the decrease of the blood cells production, called myelosupression.
Chemotherapy effects or side effects can classified according to the extent of the adverse reactions into long and short term categories. Side effects of chemotherapy represent unwanted symptoms which occur as a direct result of taking a drug. It is not difficult to confuse drug side effects with symptoms of cancer. Symptoms characterize the disease in fact, while the side effects consist of natural adverse reactions to a powerful external invasion in the body. Side effects vary depending on the type of drugs used in the treatment, with the mention that one single form of medication will not trigger all the possible adverse reactions in a patient.
Generally speaking, chemotherapy affects those cells with a faster division. The mouth, intestines, skin, hair, bone marrow (the spongy material that fills your bones and produces new blood cells) are mainly affected by chemotherapy. Since hair is growing all the time, the skin is constantly renewing itself and the lining of the digestive system and the mouth have the same dynamics, then, the new cells result from a rapid and constant division occurring in these parts of the body. And, unfortunately, when cells are dividing, chemotherapy drugs attack them.
It is known that most drugs used in chemotherapy have side effects, yet, not all the patients get the same chemotherapy effects. The way one goes through chemotherapy therefore differs immensely, depending on some factors specific to every case. These elements include the period during which the drug has been taken, the concentration of the drug, how the drug is administered, the patient’s general health state, as well as the combined use of chemotherapy medication and other remedies.
Some chemotherapy effects represent serious medical conditions which require professional help; others, although upsetting, are not necessarily a major threat to the patient’s health. It is also relevant to discuss the effects of chemotherapy with the doctor and the contact person at the treating center where the patient is given the treatment.
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