Managing Chemo Side Effects
Posted 12/7/2010
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If this topic is of no interest or relevance to you, please excuse a third straight day with the same theme. For women receiving chemotherapy, however, this is vitally important. This is a good article from ASCO's CancerNet that describes a range of potential problems with suggestions re how to manage them. Here is the introduction and a link:
Side Effects of Chemotherapy
Although it is an effective treatment for many types of cancer, chemotherapy—like other cancer treatments —can cause side effects. The types and intensity of side effects vary from person to person and with the type and location of cancer, the treatment dose, and the person's health.
Chemotherapy targets cells that are actively growing—a characteristic of cancerous cells—but does not distinguish between actively growing normal cells (such as cells in the blood, mouth, intestines, and hair) and cancerous cells. Side effects occur when the chemotherapy damages normal, healthy cells that maintain the body's function and appearance. However, doctors and scientists are continually working to identify new drugs, methods of administering (giving) chemotherapy, and combinations of existing treatments that have fewer side effects. As a result, many types of chemotherapy are easier to tolerate than medications used even a few years ago. In addition, doctors have made major strides in recent years in reducing pain, nausea and vomiting, and other physical side effects. Your health care team will work with you to ease or prevent many of these side effects.
http://tinyurl.com/293gbx2
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