Would you refuse lifesaving cancer therapy if it meant losing your hair? Remarkably, because of the trauma, thousands are doing just that. As TV’s Cold Feet highlights the problem, we examine what more can be done to help those affected

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For some years patients have been offered cooling caps — lightweight, silicone caps with liquid coolant passing through — to wear during chemotherapy. 'Cold caps work in a combination of ways,' says Dr Nikolaos Georgopoulos, a cancer cell biologist at the University of Huddersfield. 'First, by making the scalp cooler, you are restricting blood flow, meaning less chemotherapy gets to the hair follicles.