cancer chemotherapy

by Dr. Bill Ackart

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Chemotherapy hair loss is one of the numerous effects of this cancer treatment. Why does one lose hair during chemotherapy? Well, the drugs used in this type of cancer treatment are very strong, therefore very efficient in attacking the rapidly developing cancer cells. There are normal body cells with a rapid growth rate, and they are not cancer; the cells in the digestive tract and the hair follicles are the main examples here. The effects of chemotherapy on hair are manifest for all the body parts covered by hair. Thus, patients will experience the loss of eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic and armpit hair.

There is a wide variety of drugs that are used in chemotherapy. Among these, obviously some are more likely to cause chemotherapy hair loss than others. The difference in chemotherapy drug doses is relevant for chemotherapy hair loss, and while some patients will experience thinning of the hair others will go completely bald. Thus, make sure to discuss all such details with your doctor, in order to be prepared to cope with hair loss psychologically.

In most cases you’ll start losing hair within ten or fourteen days after you start chemotherapy. It may happen quite fast, gradually or in clumps. Chemotherapy hair loss remains a problem throughout the entire period of the treatment and a month afterwards. Half the hair will be gone without one even noticing. Fortunately, in the majority of cases, chemotherapy hair loss is a temporary effect. Hair can be expected to grow again within six months to one year after the cessation of the treatment. The new hair could have a slightly different shade of color, with the mention that even the texture could be altered too.

It usually takes about four to six weeks for the hair to recover from chemotherapy, and generally, the hair grows at a rate of about a quarter inch each month. When the hair starts growing back again, it might be a little different from the hair that was lost because of therapy. As mentioned before, chemotherapy hair loss leads to new texture or color temporarily. The changes will stop and the hair will become what it used to be before the treatment the moment the cells that control the hair pigment begin working again. Unfortunately, chemotherapy hair loss cannot be prevented as there is no treatment which will guarantee that the hair will not fall out.

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