Why do some treatments have awful side-effects?
Cancer is different than an illness caused by an infection from bacteria. Bacteria are very different than our normal cells so antibiotic medicines can kill the bacteria with little affect on our healthy cells. Because cancer cells are so much like healthy cells, it is difficult to destroy them without the risk of doing some damage to healthy cells. This damage to some of our healthy cells is what causes side-effects like nausea, fatigue, and hair loss. Some cancer treatments may cause uncomfortable side effects. Cancer treatments used to attack cancer cells that are dividing without normal control may also affect some normal cells in the body that divide rapidly. Cells that are most vulnerable to these treatments are found in the mouth and tongue, the stomach lining, the hair follicles, and the bone marrow, which makes blood cells. For this reason, patients may experience mouth sores, nausea, hair loss, and lowered blood cell counts which can affect our immune system. Side effects fro
