Cancer is one of the most destructive illnesses worldwide, affecting almost ⅓ of all people. Thankfully, treatments, like chemotherapy, have been developed to combat and reduce the prevalence of this life threatening illness. Chemotherapy is the use of combined drugs to eliminate the aggressive growth of cancerous cells. Chemotherapy can be used numerous ways, all working towards stopping the growth of cancer cells. However, what is not accounted for are the societal factors resulting from cancer and its treatment. Specifically, the societal economic ramifications of chemotherapy treatment.
As described, chemotherapy aims to prevent or slow the growth of cancerous cells. The complex function of chemotherapy is directly related to cell division, or mitosis. To begin, the body’s immune
…show more content…
For example, chemotherapy have a wide range of side effects, both long-term and short-term. For example, fatigue is one of the most common side effects as it is a result of low blood counts. Other side effects include: in appetite, sleep deprivation, and stress. More negative short term side effects can include: nausea, pain, hair loss, anemia, and infections. All these short term drawbacks of chemotherapy are caused by the results of the chemotherapy drugs, hospital stays, and overall stress. Chemotherapy can also cause some serious long term side effects on the patient both mentally and physically. For example, chemotherapy can cause fertility problems in both women and men. Additionally, chemotherapy can permanently affect the memory of patients. Chemotherapy drugs affect a patient’s clear thinking. This is called “chemo-brain” or “chemo fog.” This is generally caused by a large dosage being administered, and this could affect a patient short term or long term. Chemotherapy also can cause emotional changes and patients should seek counseling if they notice
Abstract Cancer “Sucks” and many individuals today are dealing with it or know someone who has dealt with it. The late president Richard Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971 and we have been fighting the battle ever since (McCarthy, 2015, paras. 16). Since the declaration many possible cures were developed and chemotherapy is the one which seems to work on almost every cancer. However, this treatment has drawbacks that are either controversial or questionable as to what degree they help with defeating cancer.
Therefore, dose and duration of treatment is limited, which in turn limits the amount of normal and tumor cell death. A second mechanism is the suppression of cancer cells for variable periods of time without cell death. This mechanism is referred to as remission. Unfortunately, the cancer can return at any time, and it is sometimes stronger. Here another limitation is introduced. Some tumor cells can develop resistance to a particular chemical agent, or several chemical agents, limiting the types of chemotherapeutic agents available for effective use. The last mechanism is cell differentiation, which helps the immune system learn to recognize and fight tumor cells (1).
Every year over 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer in the United States alone and nearly 600,000 will die as a result of the disease1. Cancer, being defined as a group of over 100 prominent diseases formed from the growth of uncontrolled cells within the body, affects the social and economic lives of citizens2. With any diagnosis comes the financial burden of hospital bills and treatment costs. According to ASCO, approximately one-third of working-age cancer survivors go into debt while three percent of patients go bankrupt from cancer care costs3. This has been a consistent issue for more than six decades. National expenditures for cancer care in the United States totaled nearly $125 billion in 2010 and could reach $156 billion, almost a 39% increase, in 20201. During the four years following their
Cancer. We all know someone who has suffered from it or has passed away because of it. Cancer now affects one in every three people, and is the second highest cause of death in the United States. For decades, the medical community has been on the hunt for a cure for cancer, and have been subjected to intense ridicule from the public because of a lack of progression toward a possible cure. In recent years, many scientists, doctors, researchers, and the general public have come to believe that the cure for cancer is being suppressed because of this lack of progress. Those who say it is suppressed claim that the drugs used to treat cancer actually cause cancer, making a patient sicker and sicker. As a result, the patients are forced to spend
Cancer affects everyone – the young and old, the rich and poor, men, women and children – and represents a tremendous burden on patients, families and societies. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, particularly in developing countries.
In the United States alone, there was an estimated 1,685,210 new cases of cancer and an estimated of 595,690 people will die from the disease in 2016 ("Cancer Statistics”). Cancer is a very common aliment that affects men, women, children, and all races and ethnicities. There are many different types of cancers, and cancer research has been a focal point for many scientists. There are various treatments that a cancer patient to undergo. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immune therapy are among the most common ones. Each treatment works differently, and has different positive and negative side effects.
Cancer is one of the leading cause of death in Australia and has a considerable social and economic influence on individuals, families and the community. Statistics shows that Australia has third highest cancer rate approximately 323 people being diagnosed per 100,000 in the world. (Begg & etal, 2007, pg.116). According to the recent disease study in burden of disease by WHO and Global Burden of disease study 2012, the findings of study showed 16% and 19% of the total disease burden in Australia (Moore & et al, 2007 pg.88)). Cancer is the sixth most expensive chronic disease due to the high expenditure of treatment and management compared to other chronic disease. It has been further described that approximately $4.5 billion were spent on cancer in 2008-09, accounting for 7% of total healthcare expenditure on chronic disease (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2013b, p.7) and 79% of total expenditure that spent on cancer patients who were admitted in hospital which is 20% more than the same expenditure that was spent on all
The American Cancer Society states that a common side effect of Chemotherapy is “Chemo Brain”. It is defined as the mental cloudiness that is caused by unknown factors in the treatment. Examples of it include trouble concentrating, short attention span, remembering details, slow thinking and processing, and trouble remembering common words. Chemotherapy patients can have Chemo brain from the time treatment begins and can continue for years after which can prevent the patient from doing mental strenuous activities like going to school or work.
When a person gets a diagnosis of cancer their first thought is of dying. The second is the extreme debilitating treatments they must endure to hopefully extend their lives. When they are faced with this decision they know it is a battle between two evils. My mother-in-law is battling thyroid and breast cancer, and having endured two surgeries says the treatments are the worst part of the battle. “So while oncology physicians may tout cancer treatments as the only hope for recovery, there is a possibility that these treatments do more harm than good.”
Known as one of the world’s most deadly diseases, second only to heart disease, cancer is a well known killer. Cancer is a disease mankind has been burdened with since the first documented records of human existence (“The History of Cancer”). Until the early 1900s, cancer was exclusively treated with surgery, which didn’t usually yield very effective results. Only recently have doctors reached a point where they can use drug therapies to suppress the disease. Relative to humans, cancer treatments are very new. Because the market for pharmaceutical drugs is so new, they lack many regulations and pricing guidelines. This allows these new companies to create a drug and place almost any price on it. The system in place can very easily be taken
1. The Cell cycle consists of various phases, G 1 (growth& preparation of DNA), S (DNA synthesis), G 2 (cell preparation to divide), Mitosis (where chromosomes separate & the cell divides) and G0 (where non-dividing cells exit from the cycle). Cytotoxic therapy is the use of chemotherapy to disturb cellular growth by causing damage to the DNA and impairing cell function (Dougherty & Lister, 2011 p. 870). By affecting the growth and replication of these cells, treatments for patients diagnosed with cancer may be controlled and possibly cured.
Over the last decade, medicine has acknowledged the psychosocial impact of cancer treatments on patients, to the point that it has become a subject of psycho-medical research. Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) is a physical condition that can have profound psychosocial consequences, leading to a negative body image, lowered self-esteem, and a reduced sense of well-being. Patients, women who fear alopecia in particular, may sometimes refuse or select another treatment that lower the risk of baldness. In her testimony, Lori, a breast cancer patient, expresses a common feeling for women with cancer: “The worst part of this entire experience [cancer], is losing my hair [….] The chemotherapy would be so much easier if I had my own hair. I appreciate
Chemotherapy patients are the population of interest. Not all the chemotherapy patients understand the negative impacts of the chemo process (Escobar et al. 2015). Some of the chemo patients are unaware about chemotherapy and side-effects, and as such, they are categorized as “chemotherapy-naïve clients,” (Escobar et al. 2015 p.2833). However, some patients are competent about the symptoms they are likely to experience after chemotherapy, including nausea and vomiting. It is important for clinical practitioners to understand how the
Cancer is figured to be the second leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. With approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012, alone .Why are so many people stuck suffering with this deadly disease? Millions of dollars have been invested into cancer research, yet there is no cure. Are these pharmaceutical companies focus on finding a cure for cancer or concentrating on elongated treatments in order to lengthen their pockets? We must first understand that cancer is big business earning huge profits. Nonetheless, the cancer industry is spending virtually zilch of its multi-billion dollar resources on effective prevention strategies, like dietary guidelines, exercise, natural remedies and herbs proven to cure cancer. Instead, it pours its money into treating cancer, not preventing or allaying it.
Before chemotherapy the survival rate of people with cancer was lower. Cancer cannot be eliminated by natural resources; however, there is a way for someone who has had it to prevent it from coming back. It has been proven that if you get cancer it is likely to come back between 6 to 10 times. You can prevent this by eating healthy. By eating healthy you strengthen your immune system allowing it to be able to fight and destroy the cancer cells living in your body. Chemotherapy has helped society by helping save millions, maybe even billions of peoples’ lives. In my opinion I think that scientist, chemist, and oncologist