Mediworld MAY-JUNE 2020-Final Draft

Cover Story
hemotherapy is a common
Ctreatment advised to patients
when their cells reproduce in an
uncontrollable manner leading to
cancer. It is a drug treatment that uses
powerful chemicals to kill rapidly
growing cells in the body.
Though chemo is an effective way to
treat many types of cancer, it also
carriers a risk of side effects. Some
chemotherapy side effects are mild and
treatable, while others can cause serious
complications. Among the risk factors
include hair loss. For many hair loss us a
symbol to the world that you have
cancer. Hair loss occurs because of the
strong drugs in the therapy that rapidly
attack the cells and at the same time also
attack other rapidly growing cells in the
body such as hairs.
Chemo therapy may cause hair loss all
over the body (eye brows, eye lashes,
body hair) etc., and not just on the scalp
and different doses can cause anything
from thinning to complete baldness.
Dignitana, a Swedish medical
technology company recently
developed, produced and marketed the
DigniCap cooling system, a patented
medical cooling device that offers
cancer patients the ability to minimize
hair loss during chemotherapy to
improve well-being and quality of life.
Melissa Bourestom, VP Marketing of
Dignitana explains to us how their
DigniCap cooling system is a proven
approach to a reduce hair loss from
certain chemotherapy treatments.
Melissa Bourestom
VP Marketing of Dignitana z
What is a scalp cooling system? Can you tell
us in detail about its treatment?
Scalp cooling is a proven way to reduce hair loss from
chemotherapy that has been used successfully by
thousands of patients worldwide for several decades. In
this treatment, the scalp is cooled while cytostatic drugs
are being administered. Two reactions occur during scalp
cooling:
Reduced blood ow
Vasoconstriction (caused by cooling) in the scalp area
limits the amount of chemotherapy agent delivered to
the hair follicles.
Reduced Absorption
When the scalp temperature is lowered, the follicles
absorb less of the drugs.
Tell us in detail about Dignicap? How does it
promote hair regrowth?
The DigniCap Scalp Cooling System consists of a
computerized cooling unit managed through a touch
screen display and an attached cooling cap. Temperature
regulated coolant continuously circulates though
specially designed channels in the cooling cap. The