Chemotherapy Side Effects May Be Worse Than First Thought

Chemotherapy drugs kill cells in the body. That is what they are designed to do. The hope is that they will kill cancer cells… however, they kill other cells in the body as well. New research indicates that the risk of damage from chemotherapy may be higher than the medical community believed.

Breast cancer chemo side effects elevated

“Chemotherapy drugs may cause more serious side effects for breast cancer patients under age 64 than once thought, a U.S. study released on Tuesday said. Researchers mined insurance claims for 3,526 women who had intravenous chemotherapy for breast cancer and tallied problems serious enough to require emergency care or a hospital stay. Their review found more than 8 percent of women underwent treatment for a fever or infection compared with less than 2 percent reported in an earlier review of clinical trials. Other problems also occurred more frequently than previously estimated, said the study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For example, 5.5 percent of women were reported to have low blood counts that could raise the risk of infection or bleeding, the new study showed. The rates were less than 1 percent or 2 percent in clinical trials. Overall, 16 percent of women in the new study had at least one of eight side effects that required emergency care or hospitalization. Side effects also included blood clots, dehydration, nausea and diarrhea. All of the women were 63 or younger.”

Again, I believe natural, non-destructive therapies are best… but these are decisions YOU must make with your healthcare provider. YOU are the person most responsible for YOUR personal health!