Hormonal therapy in dermatology.

Hormonal therapy in dermatology is used primarily to reverse or diminish the effect of androgens, which are responsible for causing acne, hirsutism, and androgenetic alopecia. Although hormonal therapy is one of many treatments for acne, it is the only medical therapy available for hirsutism, and likely the only hope for the successful medical treatment of androgenetic alopecia. This article addresses the pathophysiologic rationale for the use of hormonal therapies in dermatology, the patients, the diseases for which they are used, the drugs most used, and what pretreatment evaluation should be considered.