Dr. Amy Nett: Interesting. So, I actually don’t see 5-alpha-reductase low on all women. I do see women with higher 5-alpha-reductase. So if I’m, let’s see, so I don’t think I would worry—again, I wouldn’t worry about a low 5-alpha-reductase in and of itself. The question is going to be how old is the patient? What symptoms is she having? Is she having symptoms related to low androgen levels? If it’s a postmenopausal woman, I think we often do see low androgens and I’m not sure that there’s anything wrong about that. I don’t know that, that’s any pathophysiology. So I think the question is, what are you trying to treat? I don’t think you need to treat a low 5-alpha-reductase in and of itself.
If you want to read a little bit more about it, I think the DUTCH website has some information on hormones. The other lab website that has some interesting information is MeridianValleyLab.com. So if you go to MeridianValleyLab.com, they have some information on 5-alpha-reductase, so that could be helpful as well. But again, 5-alpha reductase is the enzyme that’s essentially making more potent androgens, so I don’t think there is a clear downside to having low 5-alpha-reductase activity in a woman who is asymptomatic.