How does chemotherapy work?

Chemotherapy consists of a wide variety of drugs. These drugs are inserted into the body using injections or pills which each have a specific function to help destroy the cancer by stopping the growth of the cells. Because of the rapid pace that cancer cells divide, they are most sensitive to these drugs and cannot fight them off. Chemotherapy stops the reproduction of cancerous cells so that they will decrease and should eventually eliminate the cancer. 

The drugs could affect the functions of normal cells because some normal cells do divide a lot faster than other cells such as the skin cells, stomach, bladder, intestines. When normal cells are affected, side effects occur. Blood cells are the most affected cells from chemotherapy and since these cells fight infections, carry oxygen through the body, and assist in blood clotting, a decrease in these cells could cause anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, hair loss, and memory changes.

Anemia is a condition where the body has a shortage of healthy red blood cells. When having anemia, you should have blood transfusions to increase the amount of red blood cells.  Neutropenia is where you have a decrease in white blood cells. White blood cells are needed to fight off bacteria and infections. Thrombocytopenia is a decrease in platelets, therefore patients should avoid any activities which could result in blood loss or internal bleeding. Hair loss occurs from the drugs having an effect on the fast growing cells in the hair roots. Memory loss is caused by the medications given, by stress, or other health problems. Patients using the process of chemotherapy must watch for different symptoms of these side effects for they could result in life-threatening issues.