Chemotherapy

[psi20]

How does it work?

Could someone tell me if this sounds like chemotherapy?

You have a uranium pile short of critical mass. The stray neutrons go out into a room. Many people are in this room. People wear graphite armored suits where they don't need radiation.

[NSX]

As far as I know, chemotherapy is like a drug/medicine taken into the body that is usually used to treat cancers.

 

Here's a good site w/ lots of info. on cancer, and related topics.

 

IN particular, linked to the Chemo. part:

 

http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Chemotherapy

[psi20]

Hmm... I thought chemotherapy was radiation therapy.

[YT2095]

no, it`s viscious nasty deadly chems introduced into the system at doses that near fatal to the recipients good cells, in a hope that it will kill the cancer 1`st. it`s nothing to do with radiation, that`s a different sort of treatment.

 

Chemo left my friend severely brain damaged (he was a vegetable) when they`de finished with him, he died just over a week later as a direct result, the cancer would have taken him eventualy, sure, maybe a year or 2 later though.

ok, I`m very bitter about it and the treatment, I personaly would never have it now, not after seeing what I did and what it can do

[psi20]

Sorry to hear that

[YT2095]

thnx man, it aint yer fault, and chemo does save lives in some instances, but I know my friends death is just one amongst many they don`t tell you about.

so I guess the moral of the story is not to go into it with you eyes closes and be carefull what you sign, sometimes it better to just let nature do her work and accept no interference from "Man".

who knows dude, but I`de be remiss if I didn`t point this out to you and others. not as an atempt to make his death mean something, just to basicly explain that it`s NOT a "Golden Bullet" and it CAN make you MUCH worse as a result.

[BeckyK]

Chemo is a violent drug, but sometimes a necessary evil. I don't know if I would ever want to do chemo if faced with cancer. I guess it depends my age and life situation at the time.

[MulderMan]

well ive been asking the teacher for months to do a project on radiation, we learned bout alpha beta gamma, half life, geiger meters and all that, even tested abg elements. then the week before half term we studied radiation and medicine, things like a radioactive isotope of iodine and a tracer machine to see if somethings wrong, and then radiation therapy and my science teacher said its the same as chemo?

[YT2095]

she`s wrong, Chemo (CHEMical) are toxin based and nothing to do with radiation, it`s a poison, plain and simple, but it`s more toxic to cancer cells than normal cells (or so the theory goes).

radioactive tracers (as chemicals) are used however, but not as a cure, but an identifier for certain tumors, they`re not restricted to that either, they`re used for blot clot (embolism) tracing and a few other things too, yes they are radioactive, and no they`re not part of the cure, just the diagnosis.

 

rad therapy is a different thing altogether, it involves bombarding the growth from all different angles with a rad source, yes it effects other cells in it`s path equaly, but because the angle is changed per dose you may get 10 "beams" pass through you, but all will be focused on 1 point and so each good cell will have 1 dose, but the center will have 10

 

there are photochem active drugs too, you basicly drink the stuff, wait a while and then a hole is put in you and a special light inserted into that hole close to the growth, after a certain time of exposure the chem you drank activates with this light and kills the tumor, there`s a 1/3 success rate with this technique to remmission and non reoccurance within a 4 year period!

[MulderMan]

thanks for explaining it some more.

[DreamLord]

I'm on a mild chemotherepy drug for a neurological disorder. If it attacks the cancer cells and other cells, I'm not really sure how it would help with a neurological condition. Well it's an auto immune version of the disease, I have a hyperactive immune system kinda, so would it attack the immune system and weaken it some how? Anyone know how this would work?

[inamorata]

Radiation therapy involves applying a strong dose of radiation directly to the tumour in ana ttempt to kill the tumour cells. In most cancers, radiotherapy is generally attempted before chemotherapy.

 

Chemotherapy involves intravenous drug administration. In simple terms, these drugs are usually highly toxic, eg. cisplatin, and are generally targeted to rapidly dividing cells (such as tumour or cancer cells, but also to hair, skin etc) where they intercalate with DNA (as an example), causing nicks and the death of the cell.

 

 

Thats in very quick simple terms, I can explain it a little better, just on my way out to work though.

 

DreamLord - a quick google search or PubMed search of your drug's name might be able to shed some light on that for you.

[inamorata]

and then radiation therapy and my science teacher said its the same as chemo?

 

Your science teacher is highly misinformed And she shouldn't be teaching students incorrect information. And you can tell her i said so too

[badchad]

Adding on to what people have said here. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are both quite toxic treatments. From my understanding chemotherapy can't really distinguish between a "good" cell, and the "cancer" cell that it's trying to kill. Instead, chemotherapy works by disrupting a portion of the cell cycle. Essentially, only the cells that are currently dividing and replicating will die. Thus, chemotherapy targets the "faster" growing cells, such as cancerous tumors. Other rapidly dividing cells can be killed as well, such as hair follicles. I think thats one of the reasons your hair falls out during treatment.

[inamorata]

Thanks for rewording pretty much exactly what I said in different words badchad lol.

 

But yes, you are correct, and a bot mroe detail is never a bad thing

[coquina]

YT2095 -

 

I am very sorry about the death of your friend. I participate in a forum for the "involuntarily unspoused". There has been much discussion among the participants about the horrors of chemotherapy. Some folks have said their spouse was urged to have it and given the impression it would extend lives. In actuality, the reverse seems more likely.

 

Many people have said that the cancer had not made their spouse that sick at the time of detection. They have indicated that if they had it to do over, they would encourage their spouse to let nature take its course.

 

Many of them are bitter regarding the degree to which chemo was almost forced on them by the medical profession. I am glad that neither my husband nor myself had to make that kind of decision - he died in his sleep.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Here's the simplest description: Chemotherapy is just giving someone a poison that kills cancer a bit faster than it kills the person>

[YT2095]

YT2095 -

 

I am very sorry about the death of your friend. I participate in a forum for the "involuntarily unspoused". There has been much discussion among the participants about the horrors of chemotherapy. Some folks have said their spouse was urged to have it and given the impression it would extend lives. In actuality' date=' the reverse seems more likely.

 

Many people have said that the cancer had not made their spouse that sick at the time of detection. They have indicated that if they had it to do over, they would encourage their spouse to let nature take its course.

 

Many of them are bitter regarding the degree to which chemo was almost forced on them by the medical profession. I am glad that neither my husband nor myself had to make that kind of decision - he died in his sleep.[/quote']

Thank You,

 

and between you and me, Knowing what I know (and saw) now, I think you made the better choice.

All the Best to you

[DreamLord]

Wow, all this discussion makes me question this medication I'm on... I already know it has caused depression and terrible stomach aches for me. And I think it causes sterility too, not to mention the other numerous list of side effects... This stuff seems like really nasty stuff.

[YT2095]

obviously it`s non of our business what medication you`re taking and why you`re taking it, but I hope you don`t mind me asking if it`s Chemotherapy or not?

[DreamLord]

No I don't mind. It is basically a mild form of chemotherapy. That's the way my doctor put it anyway. So I'm not sure if it is actually classified as chemotherapy, or if it just does pretty much exactly the same thing chemotherapy does.

[YT2095]

if it`s for cancer, it`s Chemo. eitherway sorry to hear of the side effects, major bummer

[DreamLord]

It's not cancer, I think I explained on a previous post what it was for. So I guess it just acts like chemotherapy. Not fun either way. Yeah, the side effects are bad, but it's better than my last treatments of IVs. Ha, I really hate needles.

[YT2095]

sounds like Lupus, sorry to hear about it though dude

I`m sure all will turn out well for you though, as misserable as it is at the moment, you`ll be right as rain eventualy

[DreamLord]

Thanks. It's myasthenia gravis actually, very similar to lupus. It's hard sometimes, but I'm getting better.