Contents:
- Medical Video: Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy
- Various effects of chemotherapy that may occur after treatment is over
- Long-term side effects of chemotherapy treatment in children
- Can long-term side effects due to chemotherapy be prevented?
Medical Video: Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the main treatment in treating cancer. But, the effect of chemotherapy can have a long-term impact on health even after you are declared cured of cancer.
The side effects of chemotherapy not only appear when you are undergoing treatment, but also can appear after treatment is complete. Even side effects can appear for years after treatment is complete.So, what are the long-term side effects of this chemotherapy treatment?
Various effects of chemotherapy that may occur after treatment is over
Chemotherapy drugs include hard drugs that work fastkill cancer cells in the body. Because the target is cells, it does not rule out the possibility that the effects of chemo drugs can also attack healthy body cells.
The following are long-term side effects that cancer survivors may experience after going through cancer treatment.
- Heart function disorders such as heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure
- It's hard to think because cognitive abilities decrease
- Lung capacity decreases, causing respiratory problems
- Impaired kidney function such as kidney failure
- Hearing ability decreases
- Early menopause
- Risk of infertility, for men and women
- Has decreased sensitivity to taste on the tongue
- Experiencing various dental and oral health problems, teeth are easily porous
Almost all chemotherapy drugs have long-term side effects, here are some examples of chemotherapy drugs and their effects on the body:
- Cisplatin, Methotrexate, and Nitrosoureas may affect kidney health
- Cyclophosphamide is at risk of causing urinary disorders such as bladder inflammation
- Anthacyclines can cause cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure
- Steroids can cause cataracts
Long-term side effects of chemotherapy treatment in children
In children undergoing chemotherapy, the actual side effects experienced are almost the same as the long-term side effects experienced by adults. However, in some cases the long-term effects on children are more serious than adults.
Because the child's body is still in its infancy, where the body's cells are active to maximize growth and development. So it is not uncommon, there will be more side effects experienced by survivors of child cancer.
Some side effects that may be experienced by child cancer survivors are:
- Disorders of lung function may make the child have difficulty breathing normally
- Liver disfunction
- Cataract
- Bone health problems such as osteoporosis at a young age and joint pain
- Growth disorders that cause children to have short bodies
- Obesity
- Nerve damage
Can long-term side effects due to chemotherapy be prevented?
Unfortunately, until now there has been no way to prevent the effects of chemotherapy that are long-term. The reason is that there are certain normal cells that are damaged when the treatment is done and it is possible that this will affect the health of the survivors in the future. However, this is not something that is certain to happen. In some cases, no long-term side effects were found in cancer survivors.
Even so, it cannot be denied that people who have had cancer have a greater risk of experiencing all these health problems than healthy people. Therefore, the thing that can be done is to carry out routine checks even after the treatment has finished. Routine checks are carried out to detect early on if you experience side effects from treatment.
In addition, living a healthy lifestyle, such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and leaving bad habits that can interfere with health are things you can do to reduce the risk of long-term side effects.
