By chemotherapy one generally refers to the drug combinations prescribed for the treatment of cancer or tumors. Many side effects of chemotherapy treatments are permanently reported by people undergoing a chemical intervention.
Hair loss or alopecia makes the most visible of the side effects of chemotherapy although it is false to assume that someone suffering from thinning hair or alopecia is necessarily ill with cancer. How is chemotherapy hair loss explained? Well, chemotherapy consists of a treatment relying on chemicals that are meant either to inhibit or kill the cells that grow or replicate too fast.
The trouble is that the treatment is directed towards all the cells in the body that have this characteristic disregarding whether they are cancer cells or healthy cells. Thus, besides hair loss, other side effects of chemotherapy administration include skin decay and digestive problems, because both hair and soft membranes are constantly renewing themselves.
long term side effects of chemotherapy
Even if these represent the side effects of chemotherapy that most people are familiar with, few really have a clue about the temporary nature of such side effects. Alopecia stops once the treatment is over. Although there may be changes in color and texture, hair will grow back again normally.
True, there are pretty many side effects of chemotherapy and researchers have been doing their best to find ways of preventing them from happening or at least reducing them. In the case of hair loss, prevention is achieved by putting on a cold cap meant to cool the scalp and reduce blood circulation in the area. As a result, the blood will carry less drug to the hair follicles and hair loss will be diminished although not completely stopped.
All in all, side effects of chemotherapy are a challenge and doctors are still trying to reduce their number. Even if there may be solutions for a certain problem, lots of them still remain open to research. This means that you may be able to fight against alopecia because some drugs are more gentle with hair follicles, but this is not the case with all medications.