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In 1963, Okun and coworkers' reviewed their 30 cases in which diazoxide had been used as an antihypertensive agent, and noted that hypertrichosis had occurred in six female patients. Hyperglycemia had occurred in 15 of the 30 patients and in 5 of the 6 patients who demonstrated "hirsutism". The hypertrichosis** appeared to be drug-dependent, and disappeared several weeks after the drug was discontinued.' The overall incidence of hypertrichosis during the field trials of diazoxide as an antihypertensive drug appeared to be one percent.2 However, when diazoxide came into increasing use for the treatment of hypoglycemic states, hypertrichosis was again noted as a prominent and more frequent side effecP5 (FIGURES 1 and 2).Since July of 1965, eight children with idiopathic hypoglycemia of infancy have been treated with diazoxide at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Hypertrichosis occurred in all cases. Some preliminary attempts were made to investigate this action of diazoxide in the hope that it would provide basic information concerning the physiology of hair growth as well as some insight into the mechanism of action of this drug. Physiologic ReviewIt is difficult to discuss, even in outline form, the physiology of so complex an organ as the pilary system without oversimplifying and entering into controversial areas. However, the following broad generalizations are usually accepted : The pilary complex is an epidermal appendage. It is a holocrine gland, the hair being the secretory product. The size and shape of the hairs are determined by the size and shape of the root sheaths. The length of each hair is determined by the duration and velocity of its growth. The organ has an inherent rhythmicity, cycling from resting (telogen) through growth (anagen) and then back to telogen through involution (catagen) (FIGURE 3 ) . Hair grows in length only during anagen; therefore, factors that promote and extend this phase also promote an increase in length.Hair follicles have been shown to have a high degree of autonomous rhythmicity in animals and in man. Hair transplant experiments have shown that the transplanted hair will grow in accordance with the cycle and pattern of the donor animaL7 Another characteristic is the way in which hair cycles are propagated. In certain rodents, hair cycles occur with great regularity and are propagated in a

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