PROPECIA

1. Introduction

Finasteride is an oral drug developed by pharmaceutical company "Merck, Sharp and Dohme". Initially it was known as Proscar (5 mg of Finasteride per pill).

Proscar still exists and it is indicated for the treatment of prostatic hyperplasia. We have observed that balding patients who use Proscar lose less hair.Nonetheless, there are several side effects when using Proscar.

That is why Merck developed a new conditioning (1 mg per pill) which is called Propecia.

2. How does this medicine work?

Propecia reduces the transformation of testosterone into DHT (dihydrotestosterone). DHT is responsible for the miniaturization and disappearance of hair. After a couple of days, there is a 70% reduction of the DHT rate.

Next to this, the testosterone rate increases slightly by 10%, while respecting the limit of what is considered to be “normal”.

3. Results

​Two months after the start of the treatment, the results showed a stabilization of the hair loss or even re-growth in 80% of patients. The remaining 20% had no results.

If we look at the numbers in detail, we see that regrowth, when it happens, is particularly important in the vertex area :
​Vertex - big improvement: 5 %, improvement: 30 %
​Frontal area - big improvement: 0%, improvement: 5 %.

It seems that the new hair’s volume, color and length are equal to that of healthy hair.

Patients often do not realize that merely achieving a hair loss stabilization is already a success.

If patients have taken Finasteride for 6 months or more and decide to stop the treatment, they will often experiment a considerable hair loss. Unfortunately, that is the downside of this treatment. The patient will find himself in the situation he would have been in if he hadn’t taken Finasteride in the first place. Unfortunately restarting the treatment only results in new hair loss stabilization.

4.Indications

The drug essentially targets young men who still have a great reserve of hair.  

It is very effective in the vertex area; it has become the ideal ally of a hair transplant. At present, we can use a hair transplant for the front area of the head and treat the back area with Finasteride.

5. Side effects of Finasteride

Side effect:

• Pain in the chest which is sometimes accompanied by swelling (gynaecomastia)
• Reduction of the sperm volume (1.2%)
• Changes in sperm consistence
• Less frequently, erection troubles (1.3%) or loss of libido (1.8%)

When they appear, side effects are premature. At this time, the treatment has not produced any negative side effects and thus, stopping the treatment will not cause hair loss.

6. Benefits of Finasteride

For those people who do not like to apply Minoxidil, Finasteride represents the best solution. It is more effective than Minoxidil taken separately.

Nevertheless, the combined use of Minoxidil and Propecia seems to be very effective.
There is a kind of synergy between those two products: the global effect is superior to the addition of the effects of both medicines taken separately.

7. Disadvantages of Finasteride

Disadvantages:

• It is a long treatment that cannot be broken off
• The cost is very high
• There are side effects

8. Practical recommendations

Finasteride is only intended for men.  

Besides, it can be dangerous for the male foetus of a pregnant woman to be in contact with the substance. That is why men who take Propecia should use a condom.

It is important to notice that Propecia is ineffective for women.

In the case of side effects, it is always possible to reduce the dose by half.

It is often useful to go on taking the medicine for a couple of months because, when we compare the effects to the effects of a placebo, there is no difference between both treatments after 6 months.

9. Where to buy Finasteride, Propecia, Proscar?

Here are the different manners:
- By medical prescription, Propecia or Proscar form.
- Online, but please take into account that there is no guarantee regarding the product’s quality. In fact, they are often copies from Asia or from Eastern European countries.

Finasteride is not a substance which, like Minoxidil, is easily available in the public domain.