Why do treatments for cancer cause loss of hair and severe nausea by irritation of the gastrointestinal lining?

Answer 1

Most chemo and radiation treatment is based on the fact that the cancer cell is somewhat more sensitive to the poisons and radiation than the healthy cells. So they poison you ... very exactly.

Skating this close to being killed upsets your body systems a lot, but since the dose is so exactly controlled you get over it but your little buddy cancer cells bite the bullet. Sickness and hair loss is a side effect.

Latest developments use materials that are non-toxic and tasty to the cancer cells so they absorb a lot more than non-cancer cells. Once they're full a triggering agent or light activates the chemicals in the cancer cells. They die. The normal cells didn't build up the same concentration so they live.

All in all not nice. But, between a hard option and no chance at all I've always opted for the best bet to stay in the game.

A little more...Generally speaking, malignant cells reproduce VERY quickly -- moreso than other cells in your body. Chemo is targetted at killing off the fastest growing cells. Besides malignant cells, other fast-reproducing and fast growing cells include hair, finger and toenails, The GI lining, etc. In other words, all the places that chemo hits you.

Post-operative chemo and/or radiation are really necessary almost every time. As an example with Breast cancer, a mastectomy with clean margins will yield the patient as being cancer free, but in higher stages of this disorder, not following up with chemo will result in a clonally identical cancer to re-emerge within 5 years about 85% of the time.

Chemo is a difficult phase and it's easy to let people who mean well convince you it's not. The bad news is that chemo is difficult. The good news is that it gets easier and then you're done. It can significantly increase your chances for long-term, non-problematic survival.

Answer 2

Because kimo therapy kills quickly reproducing cells. Quickly reproducing cells include cancer cells and unfortunately hair cells too.