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1. Jiggers
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   I know this is the wrong place for any medical answers or advice, but I'm curious to know. I understand that chemo patients other than losing their hair, also their teeth deteriorates as well. I'm sure a lot of you here may know someone that had chemo done and was affected by the drug. The question is, What type of drugs or infusion treatments would cause you to lose your hair and teeth. Is it only chemo therapy?

   Posted 10 months ago #         

2. Que
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   Radiation to the head will also cause both hair loss and potentially dental problems as well. I believe that the biggest reason that some of these medications and radiation cause dental problems is that the effect salivary function. There are definitely medications and treatments that they recommend prophylactic dental care (i.e. fluoride treatments) before embarking on them.

   Posted 10 months ago #         

3. chrisma
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   Jiggers:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy

   Posted 10 months ago #         

4. Jiggers
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   chrisma..I could have done that without posting, but there maybe someone who's gone through with it here and may want to educate us.

   Posted 10 months ago #         

5. datamuse
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   Jiggers, I haven't gone through chemo, but I know people who have...any course of chemotherapy is going to have side effects, and hair loss is just the most visible. I knew one woman who had problems with her fingernails (drying out and separating from the nail beds), for example.

   What I'd do is research the side effects of the particular therapy being proposed and then ask about/research ways to mitigate them (PubMed is great for this).

   I'm not aware of therapies aside from chemo that have these particular side effects, but you know, pretty much all medications have side effects, ranging from mild to life-threatening in themselves (ask anyone with a penicillin allergy).

   Posted 10 months ago #         

6. chrisma
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   Jiggers: didn't mean that to be snarky. I was working on a response and checking some facts, but had to run out, and just posted the link.

   I'm not expert on this, but I've spent a lot of time with cancer researchers and I'm married to a physician. I also have an uncle undergoing drug treatment for stage 4 renal cell carcinoma, and have been reading up a bit in a bid to help him palliate some of his side effects. But, I can't tell you anything you can't read on wikipedia or the web, so I'll just leave it at that, since you seem to be looking for first hand experience.

   Although, your questions is: what treatments, other than chemotherapy, can cause hair loss and tooth loss.

   As a patient, you would have to be informed of any side effects of any kind of drug therapy or infusion you were given. Your question makes it sound like you or someone you know is receiving some sort of mystery infusion that's causing this, and you're trying to determine what it is. Or perhaps I'm just obtuse and not understanding. Quite possible.

   Radiation poisoning is the first thing that comes to my mind.

   Although, I see a few things on the web indicating a relationship between tooth infections and hair loss (alopecia), but none from any reputable sources.

   Good luck!

   Posted 10 months ago #         

7. JanS
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   I did 6 months of chemo for breast cancer in 2005. Yes, I lost every hair on my body, including eyebrows and eye lashes. Yes, my teeth deteriorated, and yes, I lost 7 of 10 toenails (they grew back). I am also diabetic. That will affect your dental health too, besides chemo. Now that I am in testing for approval for a kidney transplant, I found that I had fairly extensive deep dental deterioration.I also suffered with anemia during chemo, had multiple blood transfusions during. It's not pleasant. I could look up the drugs I took if you want to know them. I recently did a 6 month protocol of cytoxan and prednisone to slow down the autoimmune disease that has killed my kidneys. I lost no hair, just had some nausea. Had some wonderful drugs to counter that :D

   Posted 10 months ago #         

8. elikapeka
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   Jiggers, I don't know (layman's opinion) of anything besides chemo and/or radiation that would cause both hair loss and dental problems.

   There are many drugs, both legal and illegal, that can cause dental issues. It's primarily due to the drugs decreasing salivation, which in turn gives bacteria more of a chance to cause cavities. A friend of mine who has been on long-term prescription strength pain medication for chronic pain had extensive dental work done over the years, and almost all of it failed within a matter of a few weeks. The dentist attributed it to the medication he's on....it's apparently not all that uncommon.

   Posted 10 months ago #         

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