What is important to know about side effects from chemotherapy treatments

Since Princess Kate Middleton announced that she has cancer, she has not appeared in public or provided information about her health condition. Yesterday (Friday), she published a revealing post on her Instagram account in which she shared the difficult process she is going through as part of her fight against the serious illness.”I’m progressing at a good pace, but like everyone who has undergone chemotherapy, I also go through better and less good days,” she wrote. “On the worst days you feel weak, tired and the body must surrender and rest – but on the good days, when you feel stronger, you just want to feel good.”

Dr. Mia Gottfried, director of the Oncology Institute at the Meir Medical Center of the Klalit Group, states that today there are measures that can help reduce some of the side effects associated with chemotherapy treatments. However, she emphasizes that according to the message published by Middleton, it is not possible to estimate what type of cancer she is suffering from What treatments has she already undergone?

“In general, chemotherapy treatment for cancer can be complementary to surgery, and its purpose in this case is to treat the micrometastases that exist in the body and prevent the recurrence of the disease; or alternatively – chemotherapy treatment that is intended for patients in an advanced state. The effect of chemotherapy treatment on the patient can be completely different in both cases” .

“If we once saw severe nausea in many cancer patients, today it is a less common phenomenon thanks to drugs that help treat them relatively effectively”

Dr. Mia Gottfried

Dr. Gottfried states that side effects following chemotherapy treatment can include: nausea, rejection of food, metallic taste in the mouth, weakness, as well as a decrease in blood count and exposure of the patient to infections. According to her, various medications can currently help mainly with vomiting.

“If we once saw severe nausea in many cancer patients, today it is a less common phenomenon thanks to drugs that help treat it relatively effectively. Also, today there is a helmet that helps to a certain extent, to overcome the issue of hair loss, and allows the scalp to cool, constricting the blood vessels and reduces the amount of chemotherapy that penetrates the hair follicles. It helps some patients, even though it is not easy to apply. Despite the various advances and developments, it is important to remember that chemotherapy treatments can still be very challenging, and they involve, as mentioned, various side effects.”