Stophairlossnow

People with cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy may soon be able to check one side effect off of their list: hair loss. If the claims and study results are as good as they appear to be, patients can wear a cold hat during chemotherapy to prevent their hair from falling out.

The claim

A cooling cap — marketed under the brand names DigniCap and Penguin Cold Cap — is tightly attached to your head during chemotherapy treatment and sends consistent cooling to all areas of your scalp. The temperature of the cap is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is uncomfortable and may cause headaches, but the side effects are temporary.

Because your body temperature will warm up the cap quickly, you may need to replace the cooling caps more than 15 times through one treatment. That depends on the cap — the DigniCap doesn't require changing; the Penguin Cold Cap does. Both caps lower the temperature of your scalp, making the surrounding blood vessels contract. The contractions result in a significant reduction of cytotoxins reaching your hair follicles.

Translation: When your scalp is kept at that constant cold temperature during chemotherapy treatments, your hair follicles will absorb fewer of the chemotherapy chemicals that lead to hair loss.

A 2010 study by researchers in Finland looked at 64 patients who used the caps. Hair loss was avoided in differing amounts by all of the patients, and only 20 percent of them decided to wear a wig following the treatment, the study found.

Complete hair loss article 

Categories: Hair Loss