Undergoing cancer treatment is difficult enough without the stress of hair loss as well. While newer chemotherapy drugs don't always result in baldness, many of them do. For patients it's one more reminder that they are sick and fighting a battle they might not win. At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, patients in a trial got to use a new device that could lessen hair loss. By cooling the scalp, the blood vessels that lead to the hair follicles are constricted and the chemo drugs, which kill the follicles, don't reach them as easily.
Trials began in 2010 with just a handful of patients, but results were promising. More than 75% of patients had success with the Dignicap, which was a cooling device that kept hair from falling out. In December of 2015 the trials paid off with FDA approval of the cap. While not every cancer treatment facility will have the cap available, the approval of the FDA should allow more patients to ask for it.