“Hats” help patients to retain their hair
Published: February 7, 2007
Cancer patients are at less risk of losing their hair thanks to a charity which donated scalp cooling machines to East Lancashire’s hospitals.
Breast cancer charity Walk the Walk has given two of the machines to Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital.
Bosses at the hospitals said they were thrilled with the gift and a former cancer sufferer said it would make a difference to people’s lives.
Breast cancer survivor Marion Eastwood said the machines would prove invaluable.
Mrs Eastwood, 63, of Glenmore Close, Baxenden, said: “If people are concerned about losing their hair then I think it is marvellous because losing your hair is something else for you to cope with while you are having chemotherapy.”
Mrs Eastwood was diagnosed three years ago. She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy and had a lumpectomy, an operation to remove the tumour.
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She said: “For the majority of ladies, the first thing they say is am I going to lose my hair?’ “I was one of the ones that wasn’t bothered by it.
“In fact, when it started to come out after my first chemotherapy I literally shaved my head.
“But for the majority of ladies it is something they don’t want to happen.”
Chemotherapy drugs destroy cancer cells but also cells of hair follicles, causing hair to fall out.
Angela Holden, chemothera- py sister at Burnley General said: “We are very grateful to the Walk the Walk for donating this equipment which will be of great benefit for our patients, particularly women who are going through treatment for breast cancer”We would all like to say a big thank-you to the charity.”
A charity spokeswoman said: “Scalp coolers have been used in the UK for over 30 years, however hospitals offering chemotherapy services do not have the resources to fund such treatments themselves.
“More often than not, the use of scalp coolers is not seen as an immediate medical priority as the treatment does not have a life or death’ impact.
“What is often overlooked however is the emotional and devastating psychological effect hair loss can have on cancer sufferers who are trying to cling on to a sense of normality and dignity.”
She said the machines have a 70 to 100 per cent success rate and reduce hair loss by preventing toxic agents damaging the hair follicle which causes hair to fall out. They cost about £4,000 each.
Guidance from charity Cancerbackup states: ” Any chemotherapy drugs in the bloodstream will also be carried to the hair follicles.
“When blood vessels in the scalp are cooled they become smaller, and so less blood flows through them.
“Cooling the scalp during chemotherapy means that fewer chemotherapy drugs reach the hair follicles.
“And hair is less likely to fall out.”
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