Richard Lee, M.D.
I've copied the introductory statement of Fluridil from their website along with my comments.
FLURIDIL, A NOVEL DERMO-COSMETIC AGENT FOR TOPICAL APPLICATION IN ANDROGENIC HAIR LOSS, i.e. EFFLUVIUM AND ALOPECIA
Our lives depend on our hormones. Of those, the sex hormones, estrogens in women and androgens in men, are of major importance on influencing almost every aspect of our physiology and social life. The sex hormone levels physiologically change with age. Thus, after levels of testosterone and its much more potent derivative, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), peak in the twenties, a continuous decline is observed throughout the remainder of life. In women, estrogen levels peak in their twenties, and then slowly decline until menopause, where the drop is sometimes drastic. Women also produce some male sex hormones and inversely, men produce estrogens, initially in very small quantities, but with years the levels increase until around 60, women actually produce about as much male sex hormone as men at that age. As it happens, it is the male hormones which are responsible for the most usual form of hair loss in both men and women.
The relationship between the sex hormones and the scalp hair is not yet fully understood. Early in life, estrogens in women and androgens in males make scalp hair grow. Then, usually after 30, for reasons not yet explained, in genetically predisposed males the androgens start pushing the hair out of the follicles, thus causing hair loss. A similar phenomenon occurs in women who have reached a stage in their life when they also produce substantial levels of androgens. Hair loss, which dermatologists call effluvium, ultimately results in alopecia. There are also other reasons for alopecia which dermatologists diagnose and often can treat, but by far the most prevalent is alopecia caused by the male hormone and therefore called androgenic.
Testosterone by a small chemical modification normally occurring in the body changes into an analog, the so-called dihydroxytestosterone (DHT). As an androgen, this compound is much more powerful. One approach to the treatment of hair loss, therefore, has been to inhibit this conversion by a drug. Such a drug has been developed and is currently marketed as Propecia. The effectiveness of Propecia has been reported as varying from 30-50% in arresting hair loss, but clearly there is a disadvantage of a chronic systemic administration and the uncertainty of what
I've copied the introductory statement of Fluridil from their website along with my comments.
FLURIDIL, A NOVEL DERMO-COSMETIC AGENT FOR TOPICAL APPLICATION IN ANDROGENIC HAIR LOSS, i.e. EFFLUVIUM AND ALOPECIA
Our lives depend on our hormones. Of those, the sex hormones, estrogens in women and androgens in men, are of major importance on influencing almost every aspect of our physiology and social life. The sex hormone levels physiologically change with age. Thus, after levels of testosterone and its much more potent derivative, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), peak in the twenties, a continuous decline is observed throughout the remainder of life. In women, estrogen levels peak in their twenties, and then slowly decline until menopause, where the drop is sometimes drastic. Women also produce some male sex hormones and inversely, men produce estrogens, initially in very small quantities, but with years the levels increase until around 60, women actually produce about as much male sex hormone as men at that age. As it happens, it is the male hormones which are responsible for the most usual form of hair loss in both men and women.
The relationship between the sex hormones and the scalp hair is not yet fully understood. Early in life, estrogens in women and androgens in males make scalp hair grow. Then, usually after 30, for reasons not yet explained, in genetically predisposed males the androgens start pushing the hair out of the follicles, thus causing hair loss. A similar phenomenon occurs in women who have reached a stage in their life when they also produce substantial levels of androgens. Hair loss, which dermatologists call effluvium, ultimately results in alopecia. There are also other reasons for alopecia which dermatologists diagnose and often can treat, but by far the most prevalent is alopecia caused by the male hormone and therefore called androgenic.
Testosterone by a small chemical modification normally occurring in the body changes into an analog, the so-called dihydroxytestosterone (DHT). As an androgen, this compound is much more powerful. One approach to the treatment of hair loss, therefore, has been to inhibit this conversion by a drug. Such a drug has been developed and is currently marketed as Propecia. The effectiveness of Propecia has been reported as varying from 30-50% in arresting hair loss, but clearly there is a disadvantage of a chronic systemic administration and the uncertainty of what