Post-finasteride syndrome – does it really exist?

Abstract

Inhibitors of 5α-steroid reductase are drugs used to treat androgen-dependent conditions including prostate diseases and androgenic alopecia. Finasteride was the first on the market and is currently the most widely used inhibitor. Dutasteride was the second inhibitor to be approved and has a similar safety profile. Common adverse events of treatment consist of sexual disorders and a negative affect balance. It was described that the prolonged use of 5α-steroid reductase inhibitors in patients with alopecia can cause persistent side effects called a post-finasteride syndrome (PFS), that is not just a simple coexistence of events, but rather a definite syndrome with an iatrogenic background. PFS occurs in susceptible individuals even after small doses of the drug and can last for a long time after the discontinuation of treatment. A deterioration in the quality of life in affected individuals does not justify use of the drug. Wider recognition of PFS symptoms, its incidence, course, prevention, and treatment possibilities will allow the indications for drug use to be reconsidered and treatment to be more personalized. Knowledge about PFS will also help to provide the best treatment for affected individuals and to properly educate patients before obtaining an informed consent for therapy with 5α-steroid reductase inhibitors.     

Conversations

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Fostering transnational dialogue: Lessons learned from women peace activists

Abstract

Given the incredible diversity of the anti-globalization movement, developing inclusive and participatory spaces is an enormous challenge. Inequities in power, resources, and experience between Northern and Southern activists are of particular concern to a movement that values democratic participation. Dialogue is seen as a critical new way of addressing conflicts within the movement. For three decades, women's organizations dealt with similar issues at the UN World Conferences on Women. It was not until the 1990s that a global women's movement emerged. This paper, which is based on a qualitative study of women's peace organizations gathered at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in 1995, addresses the development of positive coalition dynamics. The focus on individual activist stories fills in gaps left by studying organizations as units of analysis or on transnational movements as a whole. My research shows that if transnational activists use constructive approaches, conflict can assist in building coalition dynamics necessary for effective and equitable cooperation. I conclude that a commitment to respond to conflict in a constructive manner is as important for coalition building as formal processes or mechanisms that foster dialogue.     

Love and Hooking Up in the New Millennium: Communication Technology and Relationships among Urban African American and Puerto Rican Young Adults

Communication technology is a central feature of young people's lives, but its role in romantic and sexual relationships has not been thoroughly examined. This article describes how young adults use communication technology for partnering across relationship stages (formation, maintenance, and dissolution) and types (serious/casual), and proposes implications of usage in relationships. This study analyzed qualitative data from a five-week, prospective, coital diary method with related debriefing interviews (N = 70) of African American and Puerto Rican men and women aged 18 to 25 years in Hartford and Philadelphia. Cell phones, including calls, text messaging, and mobile Internet, were the most common forms of communication technology used for partnering goals. Participants reported using cell phones to pursue partnering goals across all relationship stages, including formation (meeting, screening, and getting to know new partners), maintaining existing relationships, and breaking up. Cell phone uses depended on the type of relationship (serious/casual) and the participants' intentions and desires. Results indicated that cell phones are an important element of communication among young adults in romantic and sexual relationships. Specific features of cell phone communication shape the process and context of partnering. Future research should explore emerging communication technologies and implications for psychosocial development, dating violence, and sexual behavior.     

Acculturation Gap,Intergenerational Conflict,Parenting Style,and Youth Distress in Immigrant Chinese American Families

This study examined mother–child acculturation gaps in relationship to youth distress and the possible mediating role of parent–child conflict and parenting style in a sample of 81 Chinese American families. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses provided partial support for a relationship between acculturation gaps and youth distress. No mediators of this relationship were found; however, post-hoc analyses indicated that intergenerational conflict and parenting style were associated with youth distress above and beyond acculturation gaps. These results suggest that interventions developed to reduce parent–child conflict and increase parental bonding (increase parental warmth and decrease parental overprotection) may be valuable for Chinese American adolescents, regardless of acculturation gap status.     

Friendship in children with internalizing and externalizing problems: A preliminary investigation with the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships

This study examined the relationship between friendship representation and internalizing and externalizing problems in school-aged children. One hundred Caucasian 6–7 year-old children (50 males and 50 females) and their mothers took part in the study. The Draw-a-Man Test, the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) were used. Children with internalizing problems, externalizing problems, comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems, and a control group were compared on their pictorial representations of friendship. Results showed that children with externalizing problems included more pictorial indices of each friend's autonomy and a larger imbalance of importance between them; children with internalizing problems drew themselves as less similar to their friends. In conclusion, children's pictorial representation allows exploring some aspects of their tacit knowledge about the relationship with a best friend, which is not easily expressed verbally by young children. Finally, the implications of these findings for theoretical and empirical research development on friendship are discussed.     

Reduction of Face‐to‐Face Contact Hours in Foundation Research Courses: Impact on Students' Knowledge Gained and Course Satisfaction

This study investigated the impact of reducing the number of face‐to‐face contact hours in a Masters of Science in Social Work (MSSW) foundation research course in an urban school of social work on students' knowledge gained and course satisfaction. A quasi‐experimental pretest/posttest comparison group design was used to test the following hypothesis: reducing the number of face‐to‐face contact hours will not negatively impact knowledge gain and course satisfaction in a foundation research course. The findings of this study suggest that reducing the number of face‐to‐face contact hours does not negatively affect student learning as both the comparison and the experimental group demonstrated an increase in foundation research knowledge. The level of course satisfaction was influenced by the number of hours completed in the program, age, and the number of hours worked in paid employment. Students who are especially vulnerable are younger students who have completed less course hours. They tend to struggle at the beginning to get used to new technology as part of their educational experience. This paper demonstrates that it is no longer ‘if’ web‐based and distance learning technologies are appropriate for social work education but rather ‘when’ and the degree to which their integration yields greatest educational value.     

Involving Services Users in Social Work Training on the Reality of Family Poverty: A Case Study of a Collaborative Project

In the last five years there has been an increased drive to include the perspectives and contributions of service users in social work education in the United Kingdom. In this paper we discuss the experience of one project that attempted to bring together service users, academics and practitioners to jointly develop and deliver a module that sought to examine the perspectives of families living in poverty who were in receipt of children and families social work services. Through doing this it was hoped that it would be possible to raise practitioners’ awareness of how poverty impacts on parenting and how they could develop an approach that was non‐punitive and genuinely supportive. The paper starts by exploring the context of service user involvement in social work education and then describes the development and process of this collaborative project. The paper concludes with recommendations for both projects seeking to engage service users in empowering and meaningful ways, as well as social work practice within an anti‐oppressive framework.