Androgen insensitivity syndrome historical perspective
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Historical Perspective
Case reports compatible with CAIS date back to the 19th century, when hermaphroditism was the technical term for intersex conditions. In 1950, Lawson Wilkins hypothesized that this condition might be explained by resistance to testosterone but hormones could not be easily measured, and even chromosomes were just beginning to be understood. In 1953 J.C. Morris suggested the term testicular feminization, and by 1963 most of the essential pathophysiology of complete AIS was suspected. However, as the relationship with the partial forms became worked out in the 1980s, physicians began to prefer the less confusing and more comprehensive term androgen insensitivity. In the 1990s, patient advocacy groups also supported abandoning the term "testicular feminization," and it is now considered inaccurate, stigmatising and archaic.
CAIS "urban legends"
Whether called CAIS or testicular feminization, this condition intrigues the imagination when people first learn of it. Inevitably, when CAIS is discussed or taught, someone will mention that they have heard from a reliable source that insert name of voluptuous female movie star or celebrity has AIS, as if offering some titillating scandal or memorable illustration. Lack of corroborative evidence never stops a good rumor. Experience teaches that the names change with the decades, but not the story.