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Definite clinical evidence is at hand that at various periods of the life cycle hormonal disturbances play undisputed roles in diseases of the skin. This is especially true of a hormonal gonadal disturbance, which is evidenced by such conditions as tinea tonsurans during childhood, acne juvenilis during adolescence, the so-called tumor of pregnancy of the alveolar processes, keratoderma climactericum of Haxthausen, senile vaginitis and keratosis senilis of the aged. Reichert 1 stated: "It is an old story that in juvenile acne, as in senile pruritus and in eczema of old persons, hormonal disturbances play a particular role and that a great many attempts have been made to influence these diseases with endocrine treatment." It has been observed that inflammations of the skin in older men frequently behave according to a pattern all their own. It is not uncommon for even an uncomplicated and mild dermatitis to assume major proportions of

A new inhibitor of cholesterol synthesis, 20,25 diazachlestenol, produced myotonia in 31 persons; and, in six of these, a keratoderma which resembles the natural disease, keratoderma climactericum. These observations further emphasize the importance of normal lipid synthesis in orderly cornification.