free hair for women in economic difficulty- time.news

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from Vera Martinella

A new medical device, different from traditional wigs, is being offered to some breast cancer patients through an initiative started in Lombardy and now extended to all of Italy

Will my hair fall out ?. Once you have overcome the shock and fear of dying from cancer, alopecia is one of the major discomforts experienced by patients and one of the most feared side effects of therapies (47% of women with cancer consider it to be the most traumatic aspect of chemotherapy), so much so that 10% of patients even consider the option of refusing anti-cancer treatment. Unfortunately, to date, the reimbursement of a wig not yet foreseen by the National Health Service, even if some Regions allocate funds to partial or total contribution for the purchase, and those of good quality are very expensive. The project was born from these assumptions Onco Hair, organized by the Onlus Polyclinic Association, Cariplo Foundation and CRLAB, which donates natural hair trichological implants to women in financially frail conditions who have to face chemotherapy for breast cancer.

The CNC prosthetic system is a medical device

25 women selected by a team of oncologists and psychologists from the Policlinico di Milano were given a highly personalized hair prosthesis made in the province of Bologna in the CRLAB laboratories. The CNC prosthetic system (natural hair in contact) is a medical device, which uses human, virgin, untreated hair, inserted one at a time in a thin biocompatible polymer membrane covered by a patent – he explains Stefano Ospitali, CEO of CRLab -. The production process, completely handmade, includes 39 phases and fully certified according to ISO standards for quality, environmental impact and safety and health of workers. ). A study promoted by Salute Donna Onlus and conducted at the National Cancer Institute of Milan measured the positive impact for patients with recurrence of breast cancer and relapsing alopecia who use this device instead of the wig: improves the life and psychological well-being of women who lose their hair. The CNC prosthesis allows the wearer an absolutely normal life, it becomes an integral part of the body, it should not be taken off at night and allows you to swim, tie your hair and even have it pulled adds Ospitali.

Alopecia for 65% of patients on chemotherapy

After a first pilot phase in Lombardy, now the Onco Hair initiative becomes national: Observing concretely how much this hair prosthesis is of help to women in the war against cancer, after having promoted a pilot project at the Policlinico di Milano, we have decided to commit ourselves to making the initiative national, making it known and, hopefully, adopting, in other cancer departments throughout Italy – he says Claudia Buccellati, president of the Association for the Onlus Polyclinic -. This type of medical assistance has a high cost, which is not within everyone’s reach, and we want to offer as many people as possible, in all Italian regions, the possibility of alleviating the heavy psychological impact that hair loss continues to have. especially in the female sex. With almost 55,000 new cases, breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer in Italy in 2020 but it is estimated that about 65% of patients with cancer develop alopecia during or after chemotherapy. These are mainly people who suffer from a neoplasm in the colon, ovary and lung, as well as in the breast, in the therapy of which certain chemotherapy drugs are used that also have an action on the hair follicles and hair.

Hair usually grows back (after 3-6 months)

Since chemotherapy-induced alopecia cannot be prevented, the best way to live with the problem is to plan early on how to deal with the change in appearance. Hair loss is usually reversible, with regrowth after about 3-6 months; sometimes it can be so mild as to be almost unrecognizable, but in other cases it can occur partially or totally. Not only the disease, but also the cure transforms the woman’s body, changing the self-image – underlines Donatella Gambini, oncologist at the Policlinico di Milano who followed the Onco Hair Project -. Hair loss represents a psychologically very demanding event and it can be lived in different ways, according to the character of each one, the age, the contexts. It still happens today that someone, for different reasons, feels the need to hide the diagnosis, and losing their hair due to therapies obviously makes everything much more complex. Finding yourself in a situation that is also aesthetically as close to normal as possible can be of great help. Especially for women, hair is a fundamental element of identity, character and femininity: A very profound discomfort can occur that adds to the malaise of the disease – concludes David Lazzari, president of the National Council of the Order of Psychologists -. Fundamental for all cancer patients do not lose self-esteem, contact with reality and continue to take care of oneself. The mood must remain high so as to fight the battle with greater force: many sector studies highlight how much psycho-physical well-being is a significant ally to promote healing.

July 25, 2021 (change July 25, 2021 | 15:00)

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