SHAHNAZ TATA
GORDON FLYNN
NORMAN D. WEINER
Title: "Clinical Updates in Hair"
Summary of Article:
Interesting article discussing the biochemical advances in recent years in relation to Androgenetic Alopecia. DHEA and its nature as well as function is covered, as is Aromatase, an androgen found in the outer root sheath of the follicle that they feel may play a role in hair loss.
An interesting correlation between female hair loss and Aromatase is covered, as it seems that it may play a role in suppressing the severity of hair loss in women. While this is an article that focuses heavily on female hair loss, there are some interesting points found in it regarding how men with deeper frontal recession are possibly more likely to be experiencing a hyperandrogen state systemically.
The most interesting thing about this article are its graphical representations of the Metabolic Pathway of Androgens in the Skin, the Conversion of DHA to DHT, the Conversion of Androgens to Estrogens, and an extremely elaborate graphical representation of the Cellular Mechanism for Androgens in Skin.
Needless to say, Spironolactone (Aldactone), Flutamide, Finasteride, and RU58841 are covered in this article as well.
Dr. Sawaya also provides a list of treatments for androgenetic alopecia which have been shown to at LEAST retard hair loss. A good resource no doubt.