Once upon a time, knowledge of ancient Greek was mandatory if one wished to become a doctor.

Perhaps that’s why so many scientific and medical terms have been generated using Greek words. The Greek verb hermao (ormaw) means “trigger a movement” and those molecules whose presence triggers some biochemical reactions are called “hormones.” Cortisol is the hormone that triggers awakening, melatonin is the hormone that signals sleeping, insulin increases glucose uptake and epinephrin increases blood flow to muscles and controls the “flight or fight” response.

The hormones that are best known to the layperson are the so-called sex hormones (progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, etc.). Many lay people mistakenly hear “sex hormones” every time the word “hormone” is uttered.

What does all this have to do with skin and skin care? Well, sex hormones antagonists might be of interest in treating acne and uneven pigmentation.

Skin is a steroidogenic tissue. This means that the skin can chemically modify sex hormones and does react to their presence.¹ Skin enzymes such as 5a-reductase convert testosterone to de-hydro-testosterone and aromatases convert testosterone to estradiol.

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