Health and Fitness Facts

Archive for the ‘Chemotherapy’ Category

Countless diseases exist in the world of that we live in, there are even diseases that is not discovered yet especially in remote areas where physicians can not reach. Common diseases such as flu, fever, and the like can easily be cured, but there are diseases which are very serious and can not be cured easily, worse than that, there are many diseases that do not have a cure. It is very sad for those people who acquire such a disease for it will shorten his or her lifespan. Among many diseases, cancer has been taking the lives of millions every year, it does not choose its victim, men or women, young or old, rich or poor, everyone of us can be a victim of cancer. It attacks different parts of our body, most of the time it is on our internal organs.

Colorectal cancer occurs when the cells in the intestine mutate and it starts to grow uncontrollably. This results in the formation of tumors. Folfox is the combination chemotherapy treatment used for treating colorectal cancer.

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Chemotherapy is the treatment used for treating cancer by destroying the cancerous cells. It is also used for treating breast cancer. This treatment is taken either before surgery, after surgery or as a measure to stop the cancer spreading to other parts or re-occurrence of cancer.

The treatment given to the breast cancer patient is based on several factors such as the overall health of the person and the stage of breast cancer. However, there are two types of breast cancer chemotherapy used for treating it. They are Adjuvant chemotherapy and Neoadjuvant therapy.

Adjuvant chemotherapy: This type of chemotherapy is used for destroying the cancer and is a very primary form of treatment used for treating breast cancer. It is a very systematic method of treating cancer. This treatment is very useful and helps to increase survival rate of the patients affected with this cancer. There are some types of adjuvant chemotherapy also which use a combination of hormonal therapy, radiation therapy for treatment.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy: This is used for reducing the tumor and is usually given before primary treatment. Once the tumor is reduced using this therapy it is then surgically removed.

There are some side effects which are faced by the individual undergoing this treatment. They are diarrhea, sore mouth, hair loss, feeling sick and sore eyes. These side effects are temporary and will be diminished after treatment.

You can consult a doctor to get medications which would help you to get a relief from these side effects. There are some long term side effects to this treatment as well. They are gaining weight, early menopause, affect on the heart; reduced cognitive functions and difficulty in losing the weight. Some of the long term side effects of this treatment can be life threatening.

However along with these side effects, you should also consider the fact that this treatment increases the survival rate of the patient and also the chances of re-occurrence of this cancer is reduced.

Doctors have also adopted a singular line of treatment and that is mastectomy which means removal of the affected breast. After that they refer the patient to the oncologist who prescribes chemotherapy with a promise that the patient will be totally cured and there will be no recurrence of the disease. This promise induces the patient to bear the pains of the treatment. They are promised longevity after the completion of the treatment. The fear of death and the promise of a healthy life relieve them of fear and they opt for the treatment.

The oncologists hide the hard truth that chemotherapy cannot wipe off all the cancerous cells. It is a fact that chemotherapy does not have the potentiality to kill all the cancerous cells present in the body; on the other hand the healthy cells in the body are also killed during the chemotherapy treatment due to which the natural immune system of the body is destroyed which gives rise to other health problems as the patient suffers the attack of other infectious diseases. Patients do not ask any question about the effectiveness of the treatment or what is the percentage of survival after the completion of the treatment.

Many researches have been done on this subject and it has been proven that the rate of survival is very low. The oncologists promise their patients that if they survive for five years after the treatment then they can be sure that they have been cured of breast cancer. Recurrences have occurred within the first ten years after mastectomy, this clearly shows that a patient has to live in constant fear of recurrence and death for the first ten years after mastectomy.

Many times the patients are assured that if there is no recurrence within the first five years then they can assume that they have been totally cured. But it is a hard fact that diseases which have recurrence tendency may lie dormant in the body for years and push up its head when the body becomes weak. Residue of the diseased cell may remain in the body and slowly and gradually spread in the body without showing any symptoms and thus remain undetected for years. So mastectomy and chemotherapy is not a full proof treatment for breast cancer.

Cancer chemotherapy is a medical process used in treating all forms of cancer in the human body. Basically, the therapy makes use chemical compounds in dealing with cancerous tumors and other growing cells in the human body.

Cancer chemotherapy has a specific mechanism. It is meant to eradicate the mutating cells of cancer in the body with the help of the chemical compound in use. Oftentimes, the medical approach also destroys essential cells of the body in the bid to deal with the cancerous cells. This is usually one of the side effects of the therapy.

Cancer Chemotherapy Drugs
Some special drugs are usually used in cancer chemotherapy. In most cases the therapist decides on the right drug for each patient. Every form of cancer also has specific drugs used in dealing with it especially during chemotherapy. Among the various drugs used in chemotherapy include CPT-11, Accutane, Vectibix, Cyclophosphamide and many others. The drugs used in chemotherapy are actually numerous. The medical center and the therapist involved determine the kind of drug to be used. Again, your kind of cancer also determines the kind of drugs that can be used. The status or level of the cancerous condition is also considered when deciding on the drugs to be used.

In most cases, the drugs used in chemotherapy do cause side effects in the body of the patient. You may experience hair loss, heart damage, lung damage, severe headache, fever, nausea, change in taste, change in the nervous system and a lot more. These side effects can adequately be minimized or even prevented when qualified therapist is engaged in carrying out the chemotherapy process. Oftentimes, some drugs are combined in order to deal with some of the side effects.

How Chemotherapy works
Basically, chemotherapy works by destroying the growing cancerous cells in the body of the patient. The only danger here is that, the human body also has other vital cells such as the white blood cells, the red blood cells and the hair cells. Chemotherapy can as well destroy all of them if proper precaution is not taken. There’s always the need to make distinction between the cancerous cells and other vital cells of the body. This is exactly where the help of a qualified therapist is needed. Hence, when thinking of going into the process of cancer chemotherapy, you really need to visit a reliable medical center where qualified therapists can be reached.

People often are scared of the side effects of chemotherapy but they are completely unaware of the advantages of this treatment. It is agreed that chemotherapy has a lot of side effects but with the advancements in the field of medical research, side effect management has also improved manifolds. Chemotherapy may have some side effects but they are manageable. It is also the most viable treatment option in front of anyone suffering from cancer. Chemotherapy involves the usage of chemicals to prevent the abnormal growth of cells in the body. Chemotherapy has proved to be very effective in treating cancerous cells that are located a t a great distance from the original cancer cells. This is the reason why it is considered as a very systematic and effective treatment of cancer.

The use of chemicals to treat cancer was developed decades ago and majority of the cancer patients are cured through this mode of treatment. This treatment has helped millions of people to enjoy a normal life at a time when they had lost all their hopes of getting back to their regular life. Chemotherapy has been specially designed to eliminate the cancerous cells and it does that to perfection. A cancer patient has to go through a systematically designed chemotherapy regiment to eliminate the cancerous cells in the body. The chemicals that are used during the treatment are either administered orally or are passed into the body by injecting them in the veins. The only problem with this form of treatment is that it cannot differentiate between the fast growing cancerous cells and the healthy fast growing cells of the body. Thus, it eliminates the healthy fast growing cells present in hair and blood.

It is very important to go into a detailed discussion with the doctor so that he can design a chemotherapy schedule, especially designed for the patient’s treatment. The schedule developed is drawn up based on the stage of your cancer, the type of cancer and the risks involved. The primary purpose of chemotherapy is to provide a quick yet effective treatment for your cancer. If you or any of your family members is suffering from this disease then it is better to consult your doctor to cure the problem as quickly as possible.