Cancer is a very scary subject. If you or a loved one is facing it at the moment you are probably overwhelmed by emotions, information, and practical concerns. There are many things that will be in your mind at this time and some of those are very important. You will need to face a few defining decisions that will very much alter the course of your life, or at least the next few months or years. It is always a good idea to try to face such important decisions with the greatest amount of information possible. In that way, you ensure that you will be able to face the choice in the best shape that you can manage. That does not give you any guarantees, but it should give you some peace of mind and a better chance.
Today we are discussing a topic that may be seen as controversial since it is rather hidden by the scientific community to the general public. Let us see what all of this is about and what you can do to help your chances in this battle.
Chemotherapy
We have all heard of this word, but what is it exactly? It is a very well-known and used treatment for cancer, that much we know. Chemo is a kind of treatment that adds a cocktail of drugs to your system. These drugs are tested and found to be effective in the reduction of tumors, as well as the improvement of other symptoms. The problem is that they take a very big toll on your body. Chemotherapy can be devastating for your overall health and it will often weaken you a lot. There is some effectiveness shown in this type of treatment, it ranges across types of cancers and many other factors. There is a very well-established scientific fact about chemotherapy that is not usually disclosed to patients or the general public.
Its effects on the body and relationship to cancer generation.
Because chemotherapy is not very discriminative in the way it attacks cancer cells it will affect healthy cells too. That is the reason for it being so bad for your overall health, but not only that. Chemotherapy is a known carcinogen. That means that it has been well-established that drugs employed in chemotherapy treatments are known to cause cancer, as well as attack it. The fact is that doctors will often not disclose this fact, they make that decision because they feel that the benefits are worth the risk. Fighting cancer is not easy and they do not want to be left without effective tools to handle the disease.
Radiation treatment
Treating your body with radiation sounds extreme. It sounds extreme because it is extreme. This is a life and death situation and people will go to great lengths to produce solutions for it. Most people will be willing to risk a lot to prolong their lives or a chance to cure this kind of disease.
That is the reason why methods such as radiation therapy are explored and put into practice.
The kind of radiation that you are exposed to when doing radiation therapy is very localized and aimed very precisely at the tumor. It is used in conjunction with chemotherapy to produce the slowing down of cancer growth. This is achieved through the reduction of cancer cell divide ratios by damaging their DNA.
This treatment has proven to be effective in certain types of cancer, and that is the reason why it is still being used today.
What radiation does to your health
Radiation is not great for your health, that much is obvious. It is actually lethal, which is the reason why it is used against cancer cells. The bad news is that even localized treatments such as radiation therapy is known to cause cancer as well as help eliminate it. It has been known as a carcinogen for quite a few years now. Again, we see here that doctors will often neglect to inform the risks of this kind of therapy to patients in the hopes that they will be effective against the main disease.
Chemotherapy and Radiation together
If we add up the chances of these two to generate new cancers on a cancer patient the odds start to stack up in a concerning way. It is not a very promising outlook if we consider all of this. The fact is that some of us would go to any lengths to cure a loved one or give them hope. That makes us consider all kinds of things that we would normally find strange or unreasonable. These treatments are effective, and because of that, they are already established as mainstream science in popular culture and public opinion. If you add to that the fact that doctors will often minimize the carcinogenic nature of them and may not even disclose the full picture you get a situation that is not optimal.
Conclusion
The best thing to do is to always try to get second and third opinions. Consult various professionals until you find an answer that makes sense to you. Do not just grab the first thing that comes your way in this subject. It may be one of the most important decisions of your life.
You may very well feel that you are in a rush to make a move, that may be the case, but you should still take some time to consider your options.
When making these choices keep in mind that doctors will have your best interest in mind, but they are always humans. Their knowledge base may be great, but it is always limited. They are also prone to biases like any other person is. That means that they are not flawless. What works for many may not be the best fit for you.