Cancer is certainly a life-threatening disease. But the good news is that it is curable. Depending upon the nature and seriousness of the disease, the patient could be required to undergo radiation therapy, surgery, or chemotherapy. There are several side-effects of cancer treatments, which could either be short-term or long-term effects, such as

Nausea
This is one of the main cancer treatment side-effects. When a patient undergoes chemotherapy, he or she tends to suffer from nausea and vomiting after the treatment. In a situation like this, the patient is recommended to use anti-nausea medications. Nausea has a psychological connection as well. Several reports suggest that individuals, who are almost certain about them suffering from nausea after undergoing a chemotherapy session, are most likely to suffer from it. Stress is one of the major contributing factors to nausea. If a patient manages to stay calm and avoid spicy and oily foods, which tend to aggravate this condition, he or she will be less susceptible to suffering from nausea.

Fatigue
The National Cancer Institute states that at least 70 percent of the people who undergo cancer treatments suffer from fatigue. Fatigue is usually caused as a result of radiation therapy and chemotherapy or anemia, which is a by-product of such treatments. Most cancer patients feel a sense of fatigue and find it difficult to go about doing their everyday chores even after they take a lot of rest. Taking up lesser work, maintaining a healthy diet, and doing simple exercises every day helps in this regard.

Hearing Loss
Undergoing radiation therapy or consuming drugs like cisplatin and carboplatin affects your hearing abilities severely. The hair cells of the inner ear get damaged and the ear does not respond as sensitively to the sound waves as it should. This is most commonly found in individuals who were quite young when they underwent treatment for cancer. Such people start consuming platinum-based chemotherapy drugs from a very young age and keep using them for a long time, which causes hearing loss to them. Children, who have undergone platinum-based chemotherapy must be asked to go through audiometric follow-up exams to check whether their hearing abilities have been affected in some way.

Hair Loss
Hair loss is certainly among the main side-effects of cancer treatments. The primary function of chemotherapy medications is to kill all the cells that multiply at a rapid pace inside the body. Since hair roots also develop rapidly, the medications affect them as well. Many patients not just lose the hair on the head, they end up losing their eyelashes, armpit hair, and eyebrows as well. The loss of hair usually starts happening a week or two after going through the preliminary stages of the treatment. The only bright spot is the fact that the hair loss is often temporary and most of the hair you lose grows back within three to ten months after the treatment.