Endocrinology of hirsutism

Endocrine evaluation of hirsutism☆

Hirsutism is defined as excessive terminal hair growth in a male pattern in females. It typically affects 5 to 10% of reproductive-age women. Excessive hair growth can often cause significant psychological and emotional distress. As a result, hirsutism is a common presenting complaint to healthcare professionals, including dermatologists, as women search for cosmetic and medical solutions to th...

Idiopathic hirsutism.

Hirsutism, the presence of terminal (coarse) hairs in females in a male-like pattern, affects between 5% and 10% of women. Of the sex steroids, androgens are the most important in determining the type and distribution of hairs over the human body. Under the influence of androgens hair follicles that are producing vellus-type hairs can be stimulated to begin producing terminal hairs (i.e., termi...

Prevalence of idiopathic hirsutism.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of idiopathic hirsutism in a large population of hirsute women. DESIGN 588 hirsute women (mean age 24+/-1, range 15-36 years) were evaluated as outpatients at the Department of Endocrinology of the University of Palermo, Italy. The diagnosis of idiopathic hirsutism was established in hirsute patients presenting regular ovulatory menstrual cycles and normal...

Integrated Endocrinology Integrated Endocrinology

Hirsutism: diagnosis and management.

The majority of women with hirsutism have the idiopathic variety characterized by normal circulating androgens. An index of suspicion should, however, be maintained for that subset of women whose hirsutism is indicative of a systemic hormonal aberration. The psychological consequences of this highly visible condition that can seriously impact quality of life substantiate the need for safer and ...