Home
Newsletter
Events
Blogs
Reports
Graphics
RSS
About Us
Support
Write for Us
Media Info
Advertising Info
Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy side effects send 61 percent of women to hospital emergency rooms, research shows

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 by: NewsTarget
Tags: chemotherapy, cancer treatments, medical myths


Most Viewed Articles
https://www.naturalnews.com/020010_chemotherapy_cancer_treatments.html
Delicious
diaspora
Print
Email
Share

(NewsTarget) -- New research published in the Aug. 18 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has found that the side effects and additional costs of chemotherapy for breast cancer patients are higher than previously thought.

A team of researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston examined hospitalizations and emergency room data for 12,239 women younger than 63 who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer -- around a third of whom had been treated with chemotherapy.

The researchers found that in the year following the women's initial diagnosis, the women on chemotherapy were much more likely to be hospitalized or go to the emergency room for any cause. Only 42 percent of the women not being treated with chemo went to the ER or were hospitalized, compared to 61 percent of the chemo patients. Most hospitalizations were for fever and infections, or for low blood cell counts and dehydration.

"When we looked at the rates of side effects commonly associated with chemotherapy, we found women experienced more hospitalizations or emergency room visits for these side effects than previous clinical trial would have estimated," says Dr. Michael Hassett, the study's lead author.

In addition to being hospitalized more, the women receiving chemotherapy paid more than $1,200 in extra health care costs compared to non-chemo breast cancer patients, as well as more than $17,000 in extra ambulatory care.

Most American women who receive chemotherapy treatments are being treated for breast cancer, and hospitalizations for side effects related to chemo were previously thought to be rare. Hassett recommends that women and their doctors carefully consider whether or not to use chemotherapy treatment, as the risks can often outweigh the benefits.

###


Receive Our Free Email Newsletter

Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.


comments powered by Disqus



Natural News Wire (Sponsored Content)

Science.News
Science News & Studies
Medicine.News
Medicine News and Information
Food.News
Food News & Studies
Health.News
Health News & Studies
Herbs.News
Herbs News & Information
Pollution.News
Pollution News & Studies
Cancer.News
Cancer News & Studies
Climate.News
Climate News & Studies
Survival.News
Survival News & Information
Gear.News
Gear News & Information
Glitch.News
News covering technology, stocks, hackers, and more