The hair follicles on much of the body respond to androgens (primarily testosterone and its derivatives). The rate of hair growth increases and the weight of the hairs increases. However, different areas respond with different sensitivities. As testosterone level increases (normally at puberty), the sequence of appearance of sexual (androgenic) hair reflects the gradations of androgen sensitivity. The pubic area is most sensitive, and heavier hair usually grows there first in response to androgens. The following regions also respond to andro ...

See also:

Hair, Hair - Human hair, Hair - Structure, Hair - Types of hair, Hair - Hair change with aging, Hair - Androgenic hair, Hair - Other information

Read more here: » Hair: Encyclopedia II - Hair - Androgenic hair

See also:

Hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Body hair, Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair, Hypertrichosis - Androgenic hair, Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair and hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Localized hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Treatment, Hypertrichosis - Cultural References

Read more here: » Hypertrichosis: Encyclopedia II - Hypertrichosis - Androgenic hair

Typically, humans have the longest hair on the top of the head, with shorter hair on the eyelids and eyebrows. Armpit hair and pubic hair serves as lubrication during rubbing. Sometimes, the term body hair is used, to distinguish it from hair on the head. Individual hairs alternate periods of growth and dormancy. During the growth portion of the cycle, hair follicles are long and bulbous, and the hair advances outward at about a third of a millimeter per day. After three to six months, body hair growth stops (the pubic and armp ...

See also:

Hair, Hair - Human hair, Hair - Structure, Hair - Types of hair, Hair - Hair change with aging, Hair - Androgenic hair, Hair - Other information

Read more here: » Hair: Encyclopedia II - Hair - Human hair

Hair is a filamentous outgrowth of the skin found only in mammals. In some species it is absent at certain stages of life. It projects from the epidermis, though it grows from follicles deep in the dermis. So-called "hairs" (trichomes) are also found on plants. The projections on insects and spiders are actually bristles. The hair of non-human species is commonly referred to as fur. There are varieties of cats, dogs, and mice bred to have little or no visible hair. Hair serves a number of different functions. It provides insula ...

Including:

• Hair - Human hair
• Hair - Structure
• Hair - Types of hair
• Hair - Hair change with aging
• Hair - Androgenic hair
• Hair - Other information

Read more here: » Hair: Encyclopedia - Hair

The term chest hair is generally used to describe hair that grows on the anterior torso of human males. The hair is typically short (about 1 inch long) and may extend across both chest and abdomen in a variety of growth patterns. The slang terms "happy trail" and "treasure trail" refer to hair growth between the navel and pubic region. Among males, chest hair is a common secondary sex characteristic, and the development ...

Read more here: » Chest hair: Encyclopedia - Chest hair

In biology and medicine, virilization refers to the development of changes which make a male body different from a female body. Most of the changes of virilization are produced by androgens. Virilization is most commonly used in three medical contexts: prenatal sexual differentiation, the postnatal changes of normal male puberty, and excessive androgen effects in girls or women. Virilization - Prenatal virilization. In the prenatal period, virilization refers to closure of the perineum, thinning and rugatio ...

Including:

• Virilization - Prenatal virilization
• Virilization - Normal virilization
• Virilization - Abnormal childhood virilization
• Virilization - Abnormal virilization in adolescent or adult women

Read more here: » Virilization: Encyclopedia - Virilization

Alopecia, commonly known as baldness, is a set of disorders which involves the state of lacking hair where it would normally grow, especially on the head. The most common form of baldness is a progressive hair-thinning condition that occurs in adult humans and other primate species. Nonetheless, the severity and nature of condition can vary greatly; it ranges from male and female pattern alopecia (alopecia androgenetica), to alopecia areata, which involves the loss of some of the hair from the head, alopecia totalis, which invo ...

Including:

• Baldness - Mechanism of male pattern baldness
• Baldness - Evolutionary theories of male pattern baldness
• Baldness - Approaches to baldness
• Baldness - Psychological implications
• Baldness - Preventing and reversing hair loss
• Baldness - Concealing hair loss
• Baldness - Embracing baldness
• Baldness - Common baldness myths
• Baldness - Trivia
• Baldness - Reference

Read more here: » Baldness: Encyclopedia - Baldness

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS, or "Androgen resistance syndrome") is a set of disorders of sexual differentiation that results from mutations of the gene encoding the androgen receptor. It has also been called androgen resistance in the medical literature. The nature of the resulting problem varies according to the structure and sensitivity of the abnormal receptor. Most of the forms of AIS involve variable degrees of undervirilization and/or infertility in XY persons of either sex. A woman with complete androgen ...

Including:

• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - Genetics inheritance and incidence
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - Normal function of androgens and the androgen receptor
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - Prenatal effects of testosterone in 46XY fetus
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - Early postnatal effects of testosterone in 46XY infants
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - Pubertal effects of testosterone in 46XY children
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - Problems produced by androgen insensitivity
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - 1. Complete AIS
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - 2. Incomplete or partial AIS
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - 3. Reifenstein syndrome
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - 4. Infertile male syndrome
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - 5. Undervirilized fertile male syndrome
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome - 6. X-linked spinal and bulbar atrophy syndrome

Read more here: » Androgen insensitivity syndrome: Encyclopedia - Androgen insensitivity syndrome

Since the 1980s, drug therapy has increasingly become a realistic management option for baldness for men and women, as increased understanding of the mechanisms of normal and pathologic hair growth has pointed the way to improved treatments. Scientifically proven baldness treatments continue to be an area of research that receives a large amount of funding. More than half of men are affected by male pattern baldness by age 50, and baldness treatment is estimated to be a US $1 billion per year industry.^Including:

• Baldness treatments - General concerns
• Baldness treatments - Propecia
• Baldness treatments - Possible health concerns
• Baldness treatments - Propecia's effects in detail
• Baldness treatments - Revivogen
• Baldness treatments - Antiandrogens
• Baldness treatments - Minoxidil
• Baldness treatments - Copper peptides
• Baldness treatments - Ketoconazole
• Baldness treatments - Diet and Lifestyle
• Baldness treatments - Others
• Baldness treatments - Hair transplant
• Baldness treatments - Hair multiplication future treatment

Read more here: » Baldness treatments: Encyclopedia - Baldness treatments

Cyproterone Cyproterone acetate (Androcur®, Cyprostat®) is an antiandrogen, i.e. it suppresses the actions of testosterone (or rather its metabolite dihydrotestosterone) on tissues. It acts by blocking the testosterone receptor. Its main indications are prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, priapism, hypersexuality and other conditions in which androgen action maintains the disease process. Until the development of leuprolide, cyproterone was one of the few drugs used to treat precocious puberty. It was also used in animal experimentation to investigate the act ...

Read more here: » Cyproterone: Encyclopedia - Cyproterone

Anabolic steroids are a class of natural and synthetic steroid hormones that promote cell growth and division, resulting in growth of muscle tissue and sometimes bone size and strength. Steroids act in different ways on the body to promote muscle growth, and every steroid has androgenic and anabolic properties. It is because of this, they are properly referred to in medical texts as AAS (anabolic/androgenic steroids).Testosterone is the best known natural anabolic steroid, as well as the best known natural androgen. ...

Including:

• Anabolic steroid - Effects
• Anabolic steroid - Medical uses
• Anabolic steroid - Use and abuse in athletics and bodybuilding
• Anabolic steroid - Minimizing the side-effects
• Anabolic steroid - History
• Anabolic steroid - List of Anabolic Compounds Commonly used as Ergogenic Aids

Read more here: » Anabolic steroid: Encyclopedia - Anabolic steroid

Dandruff (Pityriasis capitis) is the excessive flaking of dead skin that forms on the scalp. As it is normal for skin cells to die and flake off, a small amount of flaking is normal and in fact quite common. Some people, however, either chronically or as a result of certain triggers, experience an unusually large amount of flaking, which can be not only a visual nuisance, but is also often accompanied by redness and irritation. Most cases of dandruff can be treated with spe ...

Including:

• Dandruff - Causes
• Dandruff - Nutrition
• Dandruff - Treatment

Read more here: » Dandruff: Encyclopedia - Dandruff

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) refers to any of several autosomal recessive diseases resulting from defects in steps of the synthesis of cortisol from cholesterol by the adrenal glands. Most of these diseases involve excessive or defective production of sex steroids and can pervert or impair development of primary or secondary sex characteristics in affected infants, children, and adults. Only a small minority of people with CAH can be said to have an intersex condition, but this attracted American public attention in the late 1990s and ...

Including:

• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia - Overview of the multiple types of CAH
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia - Genetics
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia - Biochemistry
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia - History

Read more here: » Congenital adrenal hyperplasia: Encyclopedia - Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

An intersexual or intersex person (or animal of any unisexual species) is one who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics determined as neither exclusively male nor female, or which combine features of the male and female sexes. (The terms hermaphrodite and pseudohermaphrodite, which have been used in the past, are now considered pejorative and inaccurate and are no longer used to refer to an intersexual person.) Sometimes the phrase "ambiguous genitalia" is used. Intersexualit ...

Including:

• Intersexuality - Overview
• Intersexuality - Biological causes of intersexuality
• Intersexuality - Chimerism
• Intersexuality - Treatment of intersexuals by society

Read more here: » Intersexuality: Encyclopedia - Intersexuality

A man is a male human adult, in contrast to an adult female, which is a woman. The term man (irregular plural: men) is a term used to indicate either a person generally, or a male person specifically. Man - Etymology. The term "man" (from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person") and words derived from it can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their gender or age. This is indeed the oldest usage of "man". The word developed into Old English man, mann "human bein ...

Including:

• Man - Etymology
• Man - Age
• Man - Biology and sex
• Man - Gender roles

Read more here: » Man: Encyclopedia - Man

Nearly all the skin of the human body except palms of hands and soles of feet is covered with hairs. The density of the hairs (in hair follicles per square centimeter) thickness of the hairs, color of the hairs, speed of hair growth, and qualities such as kinkiness, vary from one part of the body to another, and from one person to another. All of these features have strong genetic determinants, as demonstrat ...

See also:

Hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Body hair, Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair, Hypertrichosis - Androgenic hair, Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair and hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Localized hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Treatment, Hypertrichosis - Cultural References

Read more here: » Hypertrichosis: Encyclopedia II - Hypertrichosis - Body hair

When the unwanted or excessive hair occurs in other places, and especially in other sequences of appearance, it is rarely due to a disorder of androgen excess. For example, it is not unusual for a young girl to be taken to a pediatric endocrinologist because her mother is distressed by the heaviness of the girl's arm and leg hair, but this condition is never due to a disorder of androgen excess if pubic hair has not appeared. Most hypertrichosis is genetic, but a small number of unusual systemic disorders can sometimes increase vellus ...

See also:

Hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Body hair, Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair, Hypertrichosis - Androgenic hair, Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair and hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Localized hypertrichosis, Hypertrichosis - Treatment, Hypertrichosis - Cultural References

Read more here: » Hypertrichosis: Encyclopedia II - Hypertrichosis - Vellus hair and hypertrichosis

In some cell types testosterone interacts directly with androgen receptors while in others testosterone is converted by 5-alpha-reductase to dihydrotestosterone, an even more potent agonist for androgen receptor activation. Examples are derivatives of the Wolffian duct for the former, and derivatives of the urogenital sinus, the urogenital tubercle, and hair follicles for the latter. The first known mechanism of action for androgen receptors was direct regulation of gene transcription. After androgen binds to an androgen receptor, res ...

See also:

Androgen receptor, Androgen receptor - Structure, Androgen receptor - Gene, Androgen receptor - Function, Androgen receptor - AR deficiencies, Androgen receptor - Reference

Read more here: » Androgen receptor: Encyclopedia II - Androgen receptor - Function

Before puberty, the genital area of both boys and girls has very fine vellus hair, referred to as Tanner stage 1 hair. In response to rising levels of androgens as puberty begins, the skin of the genital area begins to produce thicker, often curlier, hair with a faster growth rate. The onset of pubic hair development is termed pubarche. The change for each hair follicle is relatively abrupt, but the extent of skin which grows ...

See also:

Pubic hair, Pubic hair - Development of pubic hair, Pubic hair - Variations, Pubic hair - Purpose of pubic hair, Pubic hair - Cultural, Pubic hair - Attitudes, Pubic hair - Modification of pubic hair

Read more here: » Pubic hair: Encyclopedia II - Pubic hair - Development of pubic hair

As this disease is poorly studied, the causes are controvertial and experts disagree. However, potential indicators include: post-pubescent females are more likely than males genetic predisposition plugged apocrine (sweat) gland or hair follicle excessive sweating bacterial infection linked to some immunodeficiency conditions androgen dysfunction