Back in 2011, I wrote a Health Tip entitled, “Physicians as Morons”, whose title over the years I have come to regret, the unpleasantness of name-calling and all. You can read about this case here, but it’s just easier if I summarize it.
A young woman had contacted me for help with the unusual diagnosis of hypertrichosis, a medical term for a skin condition in which she was growing hair all over her body. The extreme condition, which she had seen online, and was appropriately horrified, is called the “Werewolf Syndrome” and was accompanied by the photo of Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Boy. Her worried primary care doctor sent her to a dermatologist, who was befuddled, then to another, then to an endocrinologist, and although her hormone levels were normal, she was started on spironolactone to block testosterone production in case she had some sort of weird hypersensitivity to her own hormone.
When I saw her she did indeed have more hair than normal, but not enough to be mistaken for a young faun and be shot while jogging in the woods by an enthusiastic hunter. She had been spending quite a bit of money on electrolysis.
I reviewed her case in detail, read over all the lab tests she’d brought, and froze (literally froze) when I read the list of medications she was taking.
Forcing my voice to remain calm, I asked, “I see you’re taking finasteride, you know Propecia, and your dose is pretty high.”
“Oh, that. Yes, my doctor prescribed it years ago because the hair on the top of my head was thinning. It works well. I take it every day.”
“But Propecia grows hair everywhere.”
“Really? Do you think I should stop taking it?”
Now, The Problems Of Silo Medicine...
