Demographics of women with female pattern hair loss and the effectiveness of spironolactone therapy
October 2015
in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology”
TLDR Spironolactone may effectively treat female hair loss, especially with hyperandrogenism signs.
This document is a letter to the editor discussing a study on the demographics of women with female pattern hair loss (FPHL) and the effectiveness of spironolactone therapy. The study found that spironolactone, which competitively inhibits androgen binding to intracellular receptors, may be an effective treatment for FPHL, especially among patients with signs of hyperandrogenism. The study also found that hypothyroidism is associated with lower levels of sex hormone binding globulin, which may result in higher levels of free androgens that can exacerbate FPHL. The study was limited by sample size and variable treatments, but the results corroborated an earlier study showing no progression or improvement in 88% of 80 women receiving antiandrogen therapy.
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