Chemotherapy is a common treatment for cancer. Depending on the type of cancer, different combinations of medications may be used as part of a chemo treatment plan.

Chemo drugs work by attacking cells or preventing cells from dividing. Cancer cells grow and divide quickly. Chemo drugs are designed to target rapid cell growth.

However, the body is made up of many types of cells, including healthy cells that naturally grow at a fast pace. Chemo treatments can’t differentiate between cancer cells and healthy cells. That’s why chemotherapy harms or kills healthy cells, as well as cancer cells.

“The treatment’s impact on healthy cells is what causes many of the common side effects.”

Different doses and types of chemo can cause different side effects, which may include:

  • Anemia.
  • fatigue
  • There is a lot of diarrhea.
  • It is a problem of the colon.
  • It is an infectious disease
  • There is peripheral neuropathy.
  • It was easy to bruise and bleed.
  • appetite changes
  • Problems with mouth, tongue, and throat.
  • Dry skin and nail changes.
  • fertility problems
  • Mood changes.
  • Problems with concentration, focus and concentration are called the Chemo brain.
  • A weakened immune system.
  • hair loss
  • Problems with urine, bladder, and kidneys.
  • nausea

Not everyone gets the potential side effects of Chemo, and they can vary in severity. Knowing what is happening in your body can help you understand the side effects of treatment.

“Chem drugs can affect many types of healthy cells, since they can’t tell the difference between cancer and healthy cells.”

The healthy cells most likely to be damaged by chemo include:

  • Blood-forming cells are found in the bone marrow.
  • The cells of the hair.
  • The mucus is made up of cells in the mouth, throat, and stomach.

Chem drugs can damage cells in the heart, kidneys, bladder, lungs, and nervous system.

The damage that is caused to these cells can lead to side effects.

Your doctor may recommend drugs to help protect your cells while you are undergoing treatment. Treatments can help relieve side effects.

The side effects of chemotherapy are listed here.

Red blood cells provide your body with oxygen from the lungs. When chemotherapy harms red blood cells and lowers red blood cell counts, chemo-induced Anemia. can occur.

The main symptoms of Anemia. are tiredness and weakness. However, Anemia. can also cause:

  • irregular heartbeat
  • The breath was very thin.
  • dizziness
  • Cold hands or feet.
  • There are headaches.

If you’re undergoing chemotherapy, your cancer care team will monitor your blood cell count closely. Anemia can be treated with an iron-rich diet, iron supplements, or in some cases, blood transfusions.

White blood cells are a vital part of the body’s immune system. When chemotherapy significantly lowers white blood cell counts, a condition called neutropenia occurs.

Neutropenia makes it harder for the immune system to fight off viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. This means a person’s risk of It is an infectious disease is increased.

There are symptoms of neutropenia.

  • There is a high degree of fever.
  • “It’s cold.”
  • There are mouth sores.
  • cough
  • Difficult breathing
  • There is abdominal pain.
  • It is rectal pain.

It’s important for people receiving chemo to take steps to avoid getting sick. Washing hands regularly, avoiding crowded places, and staying away from people who may be sick may decrease a person’s risk of It is an infectious disease. Careful food preparation and cooking can also reduce the risk of food poisoning.

Neutropenia can be treated with a therapy called myeloid growth factors. Antibiotics may be used. The body can make more white blood cells if cancer treatment is delayed.

Chemotherapy may affect platelets, a component of the blood that helps it clot and stop bleeding. A low platelet count is called thrombocytopenia. When this occurs, your blood isn’t able to clot properly, which can lead to excessive bleeding.

Additionally, cancer patients, particularly those who receive chemotherapy, are at an elevated risk of developing a type of blood clot called deep vein thrombosis (DVT.) This is when a blood clot forms in a deep vein.

Your cancer care team will keep a record of your blood cell counts to assess your risk for blood clot and other diseases.

Some patients with low platelet counts may need to be treated with a platelet transfusion, a type of blood transfusion. People at risk of developing blood clots or DVT may be recommended to take blood thinners.

Hair follicle cells are some of the fastest-growing cells in the body. Because many chemotherapy treatments target rapidly dividing cells, hair loss is a common side effect of treatment.

However, not all types of chemo cause hair loss. When chemotherapy does cause hair loss, it usually grows back after treatment stops.

Wearing a scalp cooling cap before, during, and after chemotherapy infusions may help prevent or reduce hair loss.

Nausea and vomiting are common side effects of chemotherapy.

While the exact causes of chemo-induced vomiting and nausea aren’t fully understood, they’re likely due to certain areas of the brain being triggered during treatment. When these parts of the brain are triggered, they activate a reflex pathway through areas of the esophagus, causing the sensation of nausea and vomiting.

People undergoing cancer treatment may experience nausea and vomiting.

  • Acute nausea and vomiting can happen within minutes to hours after treatment is given.
  • Delayed nausea and vomiting starts more than 24 hours after treatment and can last for days.
  • Anticipatory nausea and vomiting can happen before treatment begins and is a learned response that develops as the result of previous chemo treatments that led to nausea and vomiting.
  • Breakthrough nausea and vomiting happen despite treatment being given to prevent it.
  • Refractory vomiting is vomiting that does not respond to treatment. It may happen after several chemo treatments.

There are many combinations of drugs and treatments that may help prevent or control vomiting and nausea in people undergoing chemotherapy.

Mucositis is another side effect of chemotherapy, which can cause sores, bleeding, and pain in the mouth and throat. It occurs when chemo causes a low white blood cell count.

Eating and drinking can be difficult due to Mucositis.

Increasing how often you brush your teeth, having regular dental exams, keeping your mouth moisturized, and not smoking may help prevent or shorten the duration of mucositis. Prescription medication is also an option.

Within a few weeks of finishing treatment, mucositis gets better.

Chemotherapy can cause short-term or long-term mental changes in the brain, commonly referred to as “chemo brain,” or post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment. It’s described as a decrease in mental sharpness following chemo.

Brain fog can make it hard to remember things, and it can also make it hard to learn new skills. People with brain fog may have trouble remembering names.

Cognitive rehabilitation activities help improve brain function and are included in the treatment for brain fog.

Chemotherapy can cause changes to a person’s nails and can create discoloration, blemishes, and dryness. Nails may look bruised and turn black, brown, blue, or green, and can become abnormally thin or brittle. In some cases, the nail can completely lift off the nail bed or fall off.

Nail changes can increase a person’s risk of It is an infectious disease, so it’s important to take steps to keep nails trimmed and clean.

Tips to decrease the risk of nail It is an infectious disease include wearing gloves when gardening or cleaning, painting nails to increase strength, and avoiding biting and picking at nails.

Some people feel no side effects at all, even though Chemo may cause a variety of side effects.

If you are preparing to undergo chemotherapy, you should talk to your doctor about which side effects to expect, how long they should last, and when you should report them.

If the drugs you are taking have long-term side effects, you should ask your doctor.

Side effects will go away or diminish after treatment has stopped. Treatments for a wide range of side effects are available.

The goal of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer, its location, and a person’s unique circumstances. Based on the specific goal, there are three main categories of chemo treatment:

  • The therapy tries to destroy all the cancer cells so that the person is cancer-free.
  • Adjuvant or neoadjuvant is a therapy that targets cancer cells in the body after surgery.
  • “If the cancer cells can’t be eliminated, treatment may focus on slowing the growth of the cancer.”

Chemotherapy is just one part of a larger treatment plan. It may be given with other treatments.

Chemotherapy is a treatment that tries to destroy or harm cancer cells. It can cause side effects to healthy cells. Most of the side effects are manageable.

Your cancer care team can help you understand your specific plan, how it will work, and what side effects may occur.