By Stewart Wrighter

Living with and battling with a terminal illness takes more out of a person than anyone can imagine. In many cases, the treatment to halt the disease is often worse than having the disease itself. Treatments may leave a patient feeling fatigued, nauseous or in pain which can be depressing. While the treatments may be necessary and may ultimately be what saves a person's life, the time spent battling the disease and undergoing treatment may be difficult. Suffering from prostate cancer or an acoustic neuroma may be easier than coping with the treatments for either of the diseases. However, there are things you can do to reduce the negative effects of the treatments without interfering with their healing benefits. If you are working with qualified caregivers, they may be able to suggest some complementary therapies that will help you cope with your treatment. At the very least, they will let you know whether something is dangerous or if it will lessen the benefits of the treatment.

Massage is one of the most beneficial treatments a person can undergo. Regardless of whether you are dealing with an illness, massage is beneficial. If you are undergoing treatment for an illness and you think massage will help you feel better, talk to your doctor about your options. It is important to work with a massage therapist who has experience working with your illness. If you deal with qualified, properly trained professionals, you stand a good chance of feeling better about your body, even while undergoing treatment.

Aromatherapy is viewed with more skepticism than massage, but it may still offer benefits. For instance, if your treatments are leaving you feeling nauseous, you can burn peppermint oil or inhale peppermint extract. Lavender is another essential oil that helps soothe and relax you during stressful situations. In either case, you are not ingesting anything or applying it topically, so it will not interfere with your treatment, but it can reduce the negative effects.

Herbs are similar to aromatherapy, but may have even more intense healing abilities. It is important if you wish to use herbs to cope with any medical disorder that you work with a qualified herbalist. Your entire team of doctors needs to know every single thing you are doing in relation to your illness to properly treat you. If any of your doctors dismisses a method of treatment and discounts your suffering in response to treatment, it may be time to find a new doctor. Find someone who will work with you to find the best combination of treatments to heal your body and reduce the negative effects while you heal.

Finally, do not forget spiritual support. Regardless of your religion or beliefs, it is important to be in touch with your spirit during your treatment. This can be done through prayer, meditation, yoga or even spending time with people who are supportive and understanding when you need it most. Also consider writing in a journal, working with a counselor or participating in a support group.

By Rangga Teguh Pratama

If you or a loved one is undergoing chemotherapy or other cancer treatments, you may find that eating is complicated by odd tastes, loss of appetite, nausea, or other problems. You'll need a bit of patience, but these annoyances will pass. In the meantime, here are some tips to help you.

Lack of Appetite

- Being relaxed helps, so you'll want to make mealtime calm. If your appetite is intermittent, go ahead and eat whenever you are hungry. Let yourself have several small meals during the day instead of trying to get through three large ones.

- Morning may be the time you have the most appetite. If so, make the most of this time. For example, have two small meals and a snack before noon.

- Drink liquids half an hour before or after meals so you don't get filled up with fluid when you're trying to eat.

Taste Changes

Your sense of taste may change if you are on medications or receiving radiation treatment to the head or neck. Perhaps you can hardly taste or smell food at all. Nonetheless, keep eating during this temporary stage. Foods will still be nourishing.

Your sense of taste may continue to change during treatment. Experiment with sour, sweet, salty, and bitter foods to find out what's best for you. Try different seasonings.

Coping with Taste Changes

- For those with an increased sense of strong or bitter tastes, the mild flavor of some soy products can be a welcome change.

- For those with a metallic taste in their mouth, use plastic dishware and silverware.

- Peanut butter, tofu, and beans are bland foods that may be appealing.

If taste blindness is a problem, using marinades and seasonings for tofu and tempeh can enhance the flavor.

By Anabel BL Fisher

Chemotherapy side effects are inevitable. It is considered as one of the most famous methods of killing cells that causes cancer to the human body. Chemical compounds are being combined and used to kill microorganisms in the body. Though an effective treatment, chemotherapy still has side effects which affect other areas of the body. For brain cancer, one side effect is hair loss. It does not only mean hair on the head but also on other areas such as armpits, face, or even in the groin and sensitive areas as well. Others may get to experience nausea and vomiting. It usually occurs immediately after receiving the treatment and can last for several hours.

Changes in bone marrow are one of many chemotherapy side effects. Responsible in the production of red and white blood cells and platelets, the bone marrow's functions which includes carrying oxygen and fight infections, are being interrupted by the chemotherapy process. Also, it may interfere with the human body's capacity to stop excessive bleeding and may weaken the patient.

Aside from the above mentioned, chemotherapy may also affect a person's thinking and memory. This is sometimes called as "chemo-fog" or "chemo-brain". Researches and studies have suggested that the chemicals produced by the body are responsible for the brain function changes.

There are many factors that a chemotherapy session affects. One of these is sexual ability which is reduces during treatment and may resume after. One issue however, affects women as it may cause problems in terms of infertility. The drug exposure may reduce a woman patient's ability to conceive while the treatment ongoing.

Despite the chemotherapy side effects mentioned above, some of these can be prevented if proper methods are used. A patient must be physically conditioned. Doing so may reduce the severity of the treatment's adverse reaction to the human body. However, the treatment varies from person to person. Some may experience more side effects while others may have less.

The main goal of a chemotherapy treatment is always to cure cancer. It means that the tumor or cancer gradually disappears and should never return to the human body. However, it does not always happen because cancer depends on the patient's response to the treatment. If it is impossible to cure the cancer, at least chemotherapy is being done to control it or stop the cancer cells from spreading. It can help the patient feel better and live longer. The cancer cells may not completely disappear but rather controlled and managed like other diseases through maintenance. While there are cases that the cancer may have completely disappeared, it sometimes goes back when the human body becomes weak and prone to cancer cells again.

Though not normal, chemotherapy side effects cannot be prevented easily because it is part of the treatment. It is always important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and complete body maintenance to avoid any diseases from coming into the body. Remember that cancer is one of the most deadly diseases and not only that, it is also costly but there is always no assurance of being totally cured.

By Anabel BL Fisher

Radiation side effects are often the result of what we call radiation therapy or simply radiotherapy. It is the use of ionizing radiation to treat cancer or control the spread of cancer cells. Combined with surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or hormone therapy, radiotherapy becomes more effective. In some way, most common cancer types can be treated with radiotherapy.

The therapy works by damaging the cancerous cells' DNA or Deoxyribonucleic Acid caused by photon. Due to cell mechanism of repairing damaged DNA with a single-strand, then double-stranded breaks are being undertaken to cause the death of cells. This technique, long time since, has been proven.

The treatment or therapy is painless and some results to minimal or no radiation side effects. However, this refers to low doses only. Inducing high doses may produce side effects depending on the patient's response. While some are predictable and others are expected negative effects, these are always limited to the patient's body area which is undergoing the treatment.

In the modern times, the main goal is to only experience very little such effects. Some reported bad effects include skin irritation and fatigue. For the skin irritation, it might look like a mild sun burn. On the other hand, the fatigue is usually felt in the middle of the treatment which can last for weeks or until the treatment end.

The above mentioned are just mild. There are acute side effects of radiation which can damage the human body. Severe skin breakdown may happen. Also, ulceration in the mouth and throat maybe felt by the patient and this can affect swallowing and eating.

Infertility is another one. Remember that the ovaries and testicles are parts of the reproductive system that is very sensitive to radiation.

Unlike other therapy treatment that gradually lessens until totally removed and healed after the treatment sessions, radiation therapy has late sub effects. Though limited to the area that has been treated, these effects occur because of the damaged blood vessels and other connective tissues. Loss of hair occur, dryness is felt, heart disease risk, and other cumulative sub effects.

Let us take prostate cancer for instance. New technologies emerge and this means that it can be dealt with more effectively and efficiently than in the previous times. More men are developing the illness and are experiencing the problems. However, with the treatment comes some unwanted effects and it can be daunting to patients who has to undergo the therapy because it brings more problems than expected.

Impotence is one of the most frustrating effects. The sexual drive might still be there but there will be difficulty in erection or the person might not be able to maintain it. Incontinence is another embarrassing bad effect. The extent of damage could vary on the incontinence problems.

Radiation side effects should always be given proper consideration and immediate action before any undertaking is done. It is because we can never bring back all the loss once the therapy has started to damage areas of the body as well as its functions and performance.