Does chemo damage your heart?
Yes, some conventional chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer can increase your risk of heart problems. Heart problems can also happen with newer targeted therapy drugs and with radiation therapy.
How does chemotherapy affect blood vessels?
Traditional and novel chemotherapy agents can damage the heart or peripheral blood vessels, or cause problems with clotting or blood lipids. Some serious cardiovascular effects occur while the chemotherapy is being given; others appear long after cancer has become a distant memory.
Can heart Damage From Chemo be reversed?
Cardiotoxicity can be defined as a direct effect of chemotherapy resulting in cardiac dysfunction which may lead to reversible/irreversible heart failure.
What kind of heart problems can chemo cause?
A type of cardiomyopathy that can happen after some chemotherapy treatments is dilated cardiomyopathy. Dilated cardiomyopathy happens when the left ventricle (chamber) of the heart becomes enlarged and can’t pump blood as well as it should (see Figure 1). This can lead to heart failure or arrhythmia.
If there are two toilets in the home, the chemotherapy patient should use one, and the caregiver should use the other for at least 48 hours after treatment ceases. If there is only one toilet, male patients should sit when urinating to avoid splashing. When finished, they need to lower the lid and flush twice.
Can chemo damage your veins?
Some chemotherapy drugs (and some other anti-cancer drugs) can also increase the risk of developing blood clots. The type of blood clot seen most often occurs in the veins causing problems like deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This usually refers to a clot in one of the leg veins, causing swelling and/or pain in the leg.
What organs are affected by chemotherapy?
Some chemo drugs can damage cells in the heart, kidneys, bladder, lungs, and nervous system. Sometimes, you can take medicines with the chemo to help protect your body’s normal cells. There are also treatments to help relieve side effects.
Does chemotherapy shorten your life?
During the 3 decades, the proportion of survivors treated with chemotherapy alone increased (from 18% in 1970-1979 to 54% in 1990-1999), and the life expectancy gap in this chemotherapy-alone group decreased from 11.0 years (95% UI, 9.0-13.1 years) to 6.0 years (95% UI, 4.5-7.6 years).
Does chemotherapy have long term effects on immune system?
High-dose chemo used with TBI causes more severe immune weakness that lasts for a longer time. It can also damage the skin and mucous membranes and make them less able to keep germs out of the body. This increases the risk of infection.