Contents:
- Medical Video: Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy
- What is chemotherapy?
- The effects of chemotherapy can lead to death
- Then, is chemotherapy better not done?
Medical Video: Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy
Cancer is still the most feared disease and is considered a dead card for many people. Based on WHO data, in 2012, there were 14 million new cancer cases and caused 8.2 million people to die. Within just two decades, the increase in the incidence of cancer occurred very dramatically to reach 70%. While in Indonesia alone, the incidence of cancer in 2013 was 347,792 people.
But along with technological advances in the medical field, cancer is no longer a frightening specter for sufferers. Today, more and more cancer patients are cured and have successfully passed treatment. The treatment given to cancer sufferers to date is chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Each of these treatments has its own role in fighting cancer. Each cancer patient may also receive a different treatment from other cancer patients, depending on the type of cancer, the stage of cancer, and the location of the cancer cell growth.
Although the cure rate is getting higher, but some cancer sufferers still feel afraid and don't want to do treatment because they reason they are afraid of the side effects that arise due to the treatment they are undergoing. It is true, cancer treatment also has serious side effects, can cause problems and other health problems, even to death. One treatment that can cause death is chemotherapy. Is chemotherapy effective for treating cancer? And are the benefits bigger than the side effects that can be fatal?
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What is chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is a treatment that is carried out by giving drugs that function to fight and destroy cancer growth. Chemotherapy is administered orally or through the bloodstream - injections or infusions.
In the medical world, this treatment is considered to have enough strength to stop the growth and development of cancer cells in the body. All chemotherapy treatments are intended to destroy cancer cells, but there are several types of chemotherapy grouped according to the time of administration and this affects the purpose of treatment.
Here are the types of chemotherapy that exist:
Curative chemotherapy, namely chemotherapy treatment which is intended to eradicate and destroy all cancer cells in the body. Usually it is done at the beginning of treatment and sometimes becomes the only type of treatment performed.
Adjuvant chemotherapy chemotherapy is usually done after taking other cancer treatments, such as surgery or radiation. This method aims to eliminate the remnants of cancer cells that may still be left behind and cannot be overcome by previous treatment.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, namely chemotherapy given to patients before they take other treatments. This is intended to reduce cancer cells or reduce the size of existing tumors, making it easy to remove the tumor during surgery.
Palliative chemotherapy, is a type of chemotherapy given to patients who have advanced stage cancer. The aim of palliative chemotherapy is to alleviate the symptoms caused by cancer cells, inhibit the development of cancer cells, and improve the quality of life of patients.
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The effects of chemotherapy can lead to death
How the chemotherapy drugs work is by destroying and stopping the growing cells. Cancer cells that grow abnormally will of course be destroyed by these drugs.
However, not only are cancer cells normal cells that are growing and developing will also be destroyed, because chemotherapy drugs cannot distinguish cancer cells and normal cells that are growing. Therefore many side effects caused by chemotherapy, because of the way it works destroys the growth of all cells.
Normal cells that are growing will be damaged, then cause interference with the developing network. If almost all cells in the body are developing, chemotherapy can cause damage on all tissues.
Therefore, chemotherapy is still a debate and consideration among medical experts. Even some studies have found that chemotherapy actually causes death in cancer patients. This death is caused by side effects experienced by cancer patients, not due to malignancy from the disease that is being suffered.
As found in research conducted in the United Kingdom, chemotherapy is known to have caused the death of nearly 50% of the total breast cancer patients and colon cancer who are undergoing treatment. In addition, the study also showed that patients who were older and had poor health status during treatment lasted more when chemotherapy compared to younger patients.
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Then, is chemotherapy better not done?
Until now chemotherapy is still the most common treatment and is thought to make cancer patients recover from their illnesses. So, chemotherapy is still recommended for cancer patients. Only thing to note is the handling of possible side effects, so that the side effects do not reduce the patient's health status.
Not only that, the patient must also have a strong immune system. This can be helped by strong, no less food intake and healthy eating. That way, it is expected that cancer patients can successfully undergo treatment by minimizing the possible side effects of chemotherapy.
