What is chemotherapy? Know about its common side effects
What is chemotherapy? Here is everything you need to know-
New Delhi: Chemotherapy, is a drug treatment that is given to a patient to kill cancer cells. This can be used as a solo treatment or in a combination to treat many types of cancers.
Are the chemical dangerous?
The chemicals used are said to be very powerful, and can cause several side effects. The side effects may vary according to the chemotherapy drugs.
Side effects of chemotherapy:
To name some of the common side effects of chemotherapy are fatigue, hair loss, body ache, and appetite change. According to Dr Pooja Babbar, Medical Oncologist, American Oncology Institute, Gurugram, listed some of the common side effects of chemotherapy.
Nausea, Vomiting and Diarrhea
It is said that certain chemotherapy drugs can result to nausea, vomiting, oral mucositis, diarrhea, and constipation. This is because of effective antiemetics or drugs that can result to vomiting and nausea like NK1 receptor antagonist, 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, olanzapine, benzodiazepines, and cannabinoids.
The chemotherapy-related diarrhea can only be managed with oral hydration, dietary modification, and antidiarrheal therapy.
Loss of taste:
The chemotherapy treatment can also result to loss of taste and sometimes the salivary changes too. For this, oral cryotherapy is effective as a preventive measure for swelling in your mouth due to a chemotherapy drug 5 FU bolus.
What is Oral cryotherapy?
Oral cryotherapy, is basically the cooling of the mouth using ice, ice‐cold water, ice cream or ice lollies.
Anemia, tingling, and pain
Sometimes, there are also complaints of other side effects such as anemia, and peripheral neuropathy. Nerve problems may include tingling, numbness, and pain, there can also be some fertility problem.