Reply

In the document, Dr. Joseph L. Jorizzo expresses skepticism about the long-term effectiveness of minoxidil for androgenic alopecia and tretinoin for aging skin, citing concerns about the potential for a credibility gap between dermatologists and patients due to high public expectations fueled by media hype. Dr. Elise A. Olsen responds by acknowledging the challenges in study designs for these medications but defends their validity, noting the statistically significant increase in hair growth with minoxidil and the efficacy of tretinoin despite difficulties in conducting double-blind trials. Olsen emphasizes the importance of dermatologists managing expectations through public education and views these medications as promising prototypes that can be improved upon. Additionally, the document mentions a study on monocyte and neutrophil chemotaxis in psoriasis, with varying results depending on the techniques used, suggesting that the "leading-front" method may not be suitable for demonstrating enhanced chemotactic response in psoriatic phagocytes.