re looking for info on kemotherapy p kinda long in article rjpu innmij shelley u washington edu kryan stein u washington edu kerry ryan writes hello a friend is under going kemotherapy sp for breast cancer i m trying to learn what i can about it any info would be appreciated thanks you ve asked a toughie of a question there are many different drugs which are used for chemotherapy the overall purpose of chemotherapy don t worry about the spelling some of these crazy medical words are impossible to spell is to either destroy cancer cells or to keep them from growing different drugs have different effects on cancer cells and therefore it is not uncommon to use more than one drug at a time some chemotherapeutic drugs are effective anytime during the growth cycle of a cell others work only at specific times during the cell cycle the first phase of the cell cycle is g it is when the protein synthesis and rna systhesis occurs in the second phase s synthesis of dna occurs the third phase is g the dna splits and rna and protein are synthesized aagain in the fourth phase m or mitosis the cell may divide there are drugs which are effective in each phase some stop dna synthesis others stop the cell from dividing others wreck protein synthesis at any rate the end result that is being sought is for the cancer cells to stop growing if what you are seeking is practical advice i apologize for rambling on the techno stuff some side effects are pretty common chemo drugs are rather nasty it can cause a person to lose their appetite and to experience nausea and vomiting things to help this include eating small frequent meals it is also suggested that if nausea vomiting hereafter known as n v occurs that the person notify the doctor there are medicines tthat help nausea diarrhea can be an effect antidiarrheal medications can be given and good skincare and fluid intake are important probably the one of biggest concsern is hair loss this does not always happen it depends on what drugs are being given and on the person themself different people taking the same drug can and do have different side effects i have seen some literature which states that wearing a snug headband and or wearing an ice cap can help reduce hair loss presumably by reducing blood flow to the scalp if anyone has seen research on this too i would love to see it and possibly some bib data i highly recommend making contact with the american cancer society they have a vast selection of literature and information in addition if your friend has had a mastectomy i highly recommend reach for recovery it is a support group comprised entirely of women who have lost a breast because of cancer they can offer some excellent support and suggestions if you have further questions please send me e mail i hav some good access to information and i enjoy trying to help other people i wish the best to you and your friend
