It invades silently and rapidly duplicates itself. Spreading its black plague as fast as it can to conquer the once peaceful nation in your body. Its history of dominating its host is impeccable and with no sign of stopping its destructive army, you are left to trust in the doctors who took an oath to do every thing they can to give you the best help possible. Unfortunately, as cancer quickly races to consume from the inside, your doctor does the very thing the enemy from within is doing; destroy your body. Cancer is a disease that which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues (“What is Cancer?”). The weapon of choice for many doctors in the war on cancer is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances, along with surgery and radiation, to treat cancer (“What is Chemotherapy?”). Patients suffering from the disease are pushed into surgery in order to extract the source of the cancer. Soon after, they place them under extreme radiation to burn off any remaining cancer cells. After, they inject chemicals, such as cytotoxic, to try to keep the cancer from either coming back or spreading to other parts of the body (“What is Chemotherapy?”). This method is infamously known as slash, burn and poison. Although there are some cases that show chemotherapy did help in fighting cancer, it left the patient in worse medical condition. The history of chemotherapy has shown that it is an ineffective treatment for cancer because it shortens the lifespan of the patient, the treatment itself is more destructive than the disease and it causes cancer in many cases.
As a matter of fact, the first drugs to treat cancer were not originally intended for that purpose. Mustard gas was used as chemical warf...
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...ey affirm chemotherapy puts cancer patients through needless pain and suffering which will ultimately shorten their lifespan. It is clear to many doctors that chemotherapy has left a negative imprint in the world of medicine and patients who receive these types of treatments will have to suffer through such pain for an attempt at a longer life.
However, some suggest that because of chemotherapy, the cancer death rate has decreased. In Cancer Statistics 2014, the annual report from the American Cancer Society, researchers reported that cancer death rates have steadily declined for the past two decades. There has been a 20% decrease in the overall risk of dying from cancer (“Cancer Facts and Figures 2014”) . Lead author Ahmedin Jemal, vice president for surveillance and health services research at the A.C.S. explains, “Between 1991 and 2010, overall cancer death rates
Because of advancements in technology and funding survival rates have increased in each patient and quality of life due to better chemotherapy and radio therapy drugs are helping millions of survivors round the world to lead a generally normal life without the risk of the cancer returning.
In my opinion cancer patients can alternative pain management and higher dose of pain medicine so that they can have some comfort during their stage of dying.
Additionally, CRC has a substantial impact in terms of mortality even though death rates are decreasing with better treatment and screening. 3999 deaths were directly attributable to CRC in 2011, and only lung cancer has higher mortality for cancers (http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/types-of-cancer/bowel-cancer).
...0’s cancer mortality rates have dramatically decreased from 10% to over 80% for leukemia. Overall decline in mortality for cancer was nearly 54% from 1978 to 2008 (National Cancer Institute, 2011). Decrease in mortality rates are due to improvements in cancer treatments. Recent advances in treatments are due to aggressive cancer therapies and collaboration of findings from clinical trials. More than 80 percent of patients are expected to be long term cancer survivors (National Cancer Institute, 2011).
Chemotherapy is the treatment of a tumor with chemical agents to reduce mass or eradicate a tumor completely. There are certain mechanisms by which chemotherapy inhibits cancer. The first mechanism is cell death by cytotoxicity. Some chemical agents in certain amounts are toxic to cells. The cells die due to the toxic...
The topic of this article is medication error related to chemotherapy drugs. Forty percent of medication errors have been related to chemotherapy drugs. It is imperative that the nurses are properly trained on these medications and fully understand what is being administered before giving it to the patient as well as know what the proper dose is before administering anything to the patient. More importantly the nurse must pay close attention to their patient’s response to the chemotherapy given to the patient or it could lead to a serious injury or death.
Mustard gas was not the only example of chemical weaponry used during World War I. The first example of this was the Germans use of a gas called phosgene in mid-1915, which caused drastic damage to the lungs (Mack 2). The Germans began using mustard gas in 1916 and soon both sides began to use poison gas as a weapon. At a lab at American University, which at its peak employed over 1,200 scientists specifically to create chemical weapons for the war, a new gas called Lewisite was developed. Lewisite poisoned its victims through the skin and rendered gas masks useless against it. During the war as many as 50 different gases were used by both sides (Mack 2). When the war e...
According to SEER Statistics, 23,380 people are estimated to get a brain or nervous system cancer diagnosis. Out of those people, 14,320 people are estimated to die from their brain or nervous system cancer diagnosis (National Cancer Institute). Cancer is a type of dangerous tumor, or a buildup of extra cells that form a mass of tissue, that can be life threatening (National Cancer Institute). The term for a tumor that is cancerous is a malignat tumor, whereas a benign tumor does not contain cancer cells (National Cancer Institute). According to the National Cancer Institute, the causes of brain cancer are unknown, but risk factors include family history and excessive radiaton exposure. Although they are not always due to a brain tumor, comon symptoms include headaches, nausea, speech, hearing, vision, and mood changes, problems with balance and mamories, seizures, and numbness in arms and legs (National Cancer Institute). MRI and CT scans as well as surgical biposies (or the removal of part of the tumor to be examined) are used to diagnose brain cancer (National Cancer Institute). Different types of treatment options include radiation therapy, surgery to remove the tumor, and chemotherapy. According to Charles Davis, MD, PhD and Nitin Tandon, MD of WebMD.com, chemotherapy is “ the use of powerful drugs to kill tumor cells”. There are a few different types of chemotherapy, but all of which bring out the same kinds of side effects. Although the physical side effects of chemotherapy are commonly known, few people know of the emotional toll chemotherapy can take on a patient and his or her family as they go though this process.
There are different types of pain which may be suffered by an individual with cancer, with some patients suffering only one type of pain, but others experiencing a range of all three types. Identifying the type of pain suffered is the first major step in ensuring effective treatment, as not all respond to different treatments in the same way (De Conno & Caraceni, 1996, p.9).
Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer.
I believe my thesis statement is argumentative because, not all States allow for a patient to choose what form of drug they can use to relieve pain, nausea, sleep and eating problems while on Chemo and Radiation therapy. There are many studies that have prove how the use of smoking or vaporized (inhale) have help Cancer patients have a more enjoyable
Cancer patients often wonder if going through treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are worth the risk of the side effects, in addition to the cancerous side effects. They feel that they can’t enjoy or relax in what a short amount of time they have left because they are bedridden from the nausea and pain that treatments put them through. Patients tell their loved ones to just let them die so long as they don’t have to go through any more pain. Those who are too old, are unable to recover from the effects, or are just too far in the grips of cancer, should refuse the more harsh treatments like chemo and radiation. On the positive side, refusing treatments after a certain point can save their families from the stress and cost of hospital bills. If caught early enough, patients can opt for safer and easier routes to getting rid of cancer like surgery or by doing a stem cell transplant.
It's not just surgery that can hurt you chemotherapy kills healthy cells along with cancer cells and it also can infect healthy cells. Chemotherapy has killed more than it has helped! Many doctors have admitted to giving chemotherapy even though they didn't need it . even simple medicines or pills have side effects that completely out bad the good and some are only bad and cause more conditions and ninety-eight percent of regular cancer drugs fail really bad as well as almost assured to make cancer patients sicker and make them spend money on those
What exactly is Chemotherapy and why would it also kill “good” cells? Cancer could be described as the disease that sends cells out of control, rapidly multiplying the cells, until it harms the body. Chemotherapy is an effective drug treatment intended to treat individuals with various forms of cancer. Generally, this type of treatment is nonspecific, and non-molecular that uses chemical agents to break down all dividing cells. Chemotherapy, or chemo for short, destroys cancer cells, and can also cease the reproduction or spreading of these cells. Despite having apparent benefits, this type of treatment comes at a cost, presenting several disadvantages and side effects. Chemotherapy comes with a heavy burden, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, infections, and fatigue is a few of the short-term side effects. This analysis examines chemotherapy as a type of cancer treatment, as well as evaluating complimentary and alternative medicines.