Guide To Chemotherapy Side Effects

Loss Of Appetite

It is not uncommon for a patient undergoing chemotherapy to have a loss of appetite as an adverse side effect of their treatment. Several mechanisms can cause an individual to lose their appetite as a result of their chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy is notorious for producing nausea and vomiting, and that alone tends to reduce appetite. Chemotherapy also causes changes to take place in a patient's taste buds, causing taste changes to different flavors and foods. When nothing tastes good, individuals tend to lose their appetite easier. Another way chemotherapy causes patients to lose their appetite is because the drugs cause dry mouth. Dry mouth is uncomfortable and can make an individual less likely to eat regularly. Chemotherapy also can cause the patient to develop mouth sores or ulcers due to the changes in the acidity of the oral cavity. These ulcers or mouth sores can be very painful and more so when attempting to eat food. An association of pain with eating can cause a patient to lose their appetite frequently.

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Issues Breathing

An individual undergoing a treatment regimen that includes the use of chemotherapy may experience breathing issues. Chemotherapy drugs are used to kill cancer cells by finding and eliminating cells in an individual's body that are in the process of cell division. A healthy individual's lungs have countless cells undergoing some stage in the cell division process at any given time. Therefore, the cells in an individual's lungs that are dividing can become damaged or even destroyed by the chemotherapy drugs being used. The death of numerous cells in an individual's lung causes the lung tissues to have decreased alveolar surface area, which means the air capacity of the lungs becomes reduced. A decreased air capacity means less oxygenated air is taken in with each breath, making it difficult for individuals to get an adequate amount of oxygen.

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