Reviews and Notes: Disorders of Hair Growth: Diagnosis and Management

Disorders of Hair Growth: Diagnosis and Management

Elise A. Olsen. 426 pages. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1993. $115.00.

"Hair is a cylinder of impacted keratinized cells." Dr. Olsen and 17 others discuss hair from its embryology and anatomy through its various diseases and their therapy. One chapter devoted to the special disorders of hair growth in African-Americans. Hypertrichosis, hirsutism, and alopecia are discussed, as are the medical and surgical approaches to hair loss. The chapter "Hair Care Products" by Dr. Marianne O'Donoghue begins with the definition of hair above. Photoµgraphs and color illustrations, including the wonderful picture of Peter Gonzales, a 16th century courtier of King Henry II of France, whose affliction with congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa gave him a furry face.