Chemotherapy is directed almost exclusively against fast-growing cells. Cytostatic drugs also intervene in the cell cycle in lung cancer and unfortunately also destroy healthy cells. Since tumour cells also divide rapidly, it is only this type of cell that needs to be attacked.
However, there are also other rapidly dividing cells in many areas of our body. Therefore, chemotherapy often has very strong side effects in many people. It must be remembered that every patient reacts differently to chemotherapy.
Some have enormous side effects and some have almost no side effects at all. The cells of the gastrointestinal tract have a high division rate, as well as hair cells, cells in the nail root and also cells of the bone marrow. Consequently, side effects can be found in all the above mentioned areas.
First and foremost, many patients lose their scalp hair when they are given chemotherapy. In this case, the only thing that helps is a wig, which in women is also paid for by the health insurance company. However, once the chemotherapy is over, the hair grows back after a short time.
In some patients, the nails are also attacked, as there are many cells at the root of the nail, which also divide quickly. Symptoms are then white stripes on the nails, longitudinal and/or transverse grooves or a brittleness of the nails. The blood count of lung cancer patients can also change significantly.
Here, it is often mainly the white blood cells (leukocytes), which are responsible for the immune system, that are affected. If too many leukocytes are missing, this can be very dangerous for the patient, as he is more susceptible to other diseases. Many patients also suffer from a high fever because their immune system has been so badly affected and the body tries to defend itself against disease by raising the body temperature in another way.
For this reason, the blood is checked regularly and if there are any gross abnormalities, the chemotherapy must be paused or the cycle changed. Furthermore, the red blood cells (erythrocytes), which are formed in the bone marrow, are often attacked. They are the transporters of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our body and therefore very important.
They also make up the majority of the blood components. Chemotherapy can cause patients to suffer from anaemia. This additional disease can severely restrict the life of the person affected, causing fatigue and listlessness, as the body does not get enough oxygen and the carbon dioxide cannot be transported away in sufficient quantities.
In the gastrointestinal tract, too, there are numerous cells which go through a very fast cycle, i.e. which divide very quickly. Here too, chemotherapy destroys healthy cells, which in turn can lead to pronounced nausea, vomiting and also constipation and diarrhoea in many patients. In order to prevent the latter, drugs are usually administered to prevent vomiting and nausea.
