Excessive hair growth
In the era of the boom of the beauty industry and imposed beauty templates from media and Internet resources, the problem of excess hair growth has sharply worsened. Especially among young girls.
Now in order - there is a concept of hirsutism and hypertrichosis. Moreover, the first is a sign of pathology, the second is not).
We will divide this article into two parts. First, let's consider the main causes of hirsutism and how to diagnose it.
Why does it occur?
Most often, the cause is an increased level of circulating androgen or increased sensitivity of receptors to male hormones. Hirsutism is caused by a very high level of androgens, because there is an excess in the production. That is, disorders in the functioning of the ovaries (PCOS, tumors, hyperplasia of the theca cells of the Graafian space), adrenal glands (VHKN, Cushing's syndrome, tumors), hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction, ectopic secretion of hormones (lung cancer, chorionic carcinoma...), diabetes and insulin resistance .
Or increased conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone under the influence of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase (often due to an isolated defect in the SRD5A genes).
Also, hirsutism can be caused by:
- Ethnicity;
- Physiological changes (pregnancy, menopause);
- As a result of taking certain drugs (steroids, antigonadotropins...).
How to understand that there are problems with it?
It is enough to examine yourself carefully. There is a Ferriman-Galway scale - the number of points is calculated. If more than 8 points - easy degree, if more than 26 - severe.
Please note that 1 or 2 small, lonely hairs are not taken into account, but dark, thick hair of which there are many.
Read about ways of correction in the second part).
Author: Obstetrician-gynecologist Furdas Nataliya
If you experience symptoms of an illness, please consult a doctor.
