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DRUGS FOR
MALE PATTERN HAIR LOSS
When it comes to men’s hair loss remedies, there are many alternative non-medical products on the market claiming to help stopping hair loss or stimulating hair growth. Having tried products after products, you might find that none of them were working for you.
To be effective, alopecia must be treated at the root cause. Different people have different underlying problems that cause the hair to fall out in the first place.
There is no one product out there that works for everyone with hair loss. In fact, there is no cure for it but there are several treatment options; therefore, only use medication to treat but not to cure hair loss.
What causes men’s hair loss ?
1.Genetics Over 90% of men’s balding is caused by heredity.
2.Other health conditions Less than 10% of men’s balding is caused by these health conditions:
Alopecia Areata (Patchy hair loss)
Trichotillomania (Compulsive hair pulling)
Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism
Anemia
Autoimmune disorders
Scalp disorders, such as bacterial or fungal infections, scalp seborrheic dermatitis, and dandruffs
Stress; and etc.
Different medication for each of these diseases is necessary and needed in order to control the hair loss or hair thinning.
Currently, there are only 2 genetic hair loss medications approved by U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA). They are PROPECIA and ROGAINE.
PROPECIA
(Generic name: FINASTERIDE 1mg)
What is PROPECIA ?
Propecia is an oral medication most prescribed for male pattern hair loss. Propecia can reverse hair loss by resuscitating and fortifying the existing dormant hair follicles so they can regrow new hair.
In fact, Propecia does not grow hair as many people may think, it just makes regrown hair shafts bigger and thicker which in turn make the bald/thinning area look denser for the same amount of hair follicles.
How does PROPECIA work ?
There are 2 main factors that are associated with hair loss, Genetics and DHT (DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE), a byproduct of testosterone in men.
Together they are the main reason to cause balding in men. Without one or the other, it does not cause any significant balding and hair would fall out at a much slower rate.
LEFT PICTURE Male testosterone is usually coverted to DHT by 5-AR enzyme. DHT causes balding in men with genetic susceptibilities by weakening hair follicles— causing them to become smaller, to produce thinner hair shafts, and to succumb eventually. Without genetic factors, DHT alone does not cause balding.
RIGHT PICTURE Finasteride works as a 5-AR inhibitor to block testosterone from transforming to DHT, which helps slow hair loss in men with genetic factors.
Does PROPECIA actually work ?
Each person responds differently to the drug which results in varying outcomes. But Propecia has shown to be 66-88% effective in reducing and slowing hair loss for most people.
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Is PROPECIA an over-the-counter drug ?
In the U.S. Propecia can be obtained by prescription only but elsewhere, it might be found as an OTC medication.
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How much does PROPECIA & Generic Finasteride 1mg. cost ?
Propecia usually costs US$50-110.
Finasteride, generic Propecia, costs US$13-20.
Generic FINASTERIDE 1 mg.
STERZAR (1mg), one of the several generic forms of Finasteride, costs 3-5 times less than Propecia. It can be more cost effective for you since it is for long-term use.
PROPECIA dosage
The recommended dosage is one 1-mg tablet daily. For maximum effectiveness, it is best to take it around the same time every day.
It must be taken for at least 6-12 months before you can see any results.
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Can PROPECIA regrow hair at the receding hairline ?
Propecia works best for hair loss on the top of the head and the crown area.
For unknown reasons, Propecia is not effective for the receding hairline where hair transplantation can offer the greatest improvement.
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What happens if I stop taking PROPECIA ?
After using Propecia long enough to see the regrowth, you need to continue using it indefinitely or as long as your body is still producing testosterone to retain the benefits. Discontinuing the use of it results in returning hair loss.
To put this into perspective, if a man had permanently lost 10 hairs a day due to his hair loss problem before taking Finasteride, he would have lost 3,650 hairs in a year or 7,300 hairs in 2 years. But he has been taking Finasteride in the past 2 years so Finasteride has been keeping those 7,300 hairs in tact.
If he stops taking Propecia now, those 7,300 hairs will fall out as many as 100-200 hairs per day in the next 2-8 weeks which will bring him back to the point he would have been had he never taken Propecia.
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PROPECIA side effects
1.Loss of sexual desire and erectile dysfunction. Less than 2% of people taking Finasteride are affected.
In a 2019 medical research, the survey found no difference in sexual side effects among people who used finasteride for hair loss. Read more
From our 20 years of experience in this field, we find that sexual side effects of Finasteride are rare. Most times people tend to have judgmental thoughts due to the coincidental occurrences.
When the sexual side effects happen anytime after taking the medication, people usually blame it by overlooking other possible factors that could have caused them sexual dysfunction whether they take the medication or not.
Those factors include age, obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking, binge eating, bedtime, lack of exercise, anxiety, or even spousal relationship.
2.Decreased volume of ejaculate and a decrease of sperm count in some men. This is a typical finding in men fertility. It is not recommended for men who are in the reproductive ages and have low sperm count (Oligospermia)
3.Swelling or tenderness of the breasts.
4.Depression
All of these side effects may subside at any time or may persist even after discontinuing the use of this medication.
5.Finasteride is not usually prescribed for women; women who may be pregnant are at risk for congenital defect in the unborn child.
However, some doctors prescribed Finasteride for post-menopausal women with inherited hair loss and found that it worked well for them.
6.Children under 18 years of age should not take Finasteride since it decreases male growth hormones, substances essential for children to grow and develop.
5 tips to prevent sexual dysfunction
1.Regularly go to bed by 10:00 P.M. in order to benefit from growth hormone release.
2.Do aerobic exercise for 45-60 minutes daily, 4-5 days a week.
3.Skip or eat a small portion of dinner before 5:00 P.M. No eating or snacking afterwards before bedtime except for drinking water.
4.Stop smoking if you smoke.
5.Get medical info written by medical professionals from trusted websites rather than from any individuals’ comments, hair forums, or blogs, which are anecdotal, written by people who do not have medical knowledge.
The medical professionals are more likely to give factual, unbiased assessment of benefits and drawbacks based on research and studies being done on a number of people.
When you follow these tips, chances of having sexual dysfunction will be minimal.
PROPECIA before & after
These before-and-after pictures show the result you can expect to see after 5 months of using Propecia consecutively. It can take up to 2 years to see the maximum result.
ROGAINE
(Generic name: Minoxidil lotion)
ROGAINE is the only topical lotion for hair loss treatment approved by FDA. Though it can be used both in men and in women, it seems to be more effective in women than in men.
So it is mainly recommended for women’s hair loss and to be used with Finasteride as a combination treatment for men’s hair loss. Read more
Other hair loss medications
AVODART (Generic name: DUTASTERIDE) is a medication used to treat enlarged prostate but it is also prescribed to treat hair loss for men who do not respond well to Finasteride.
DUTASTERIDE is similar to but more potent than Finasteride by decreasing 93% of both type 1 and type 2 of 5-Alpha Reductase enzymes.
DUTASTERIDE has the same side effects as Finasteride. Because of its potency and long lasting efficacy, it stays in the bloodstream for a long time. It may take an average of 5-6 weeks for the side effects to diminish.
SAW PALMETTO EXTRACT is an extract from the fruit of the saw palmetto, a type of palm native to the Southeastern United States.
It is being used to treat benign prostate hypertrophy and inherited hair loss in men only. It helps lower DHT, men’s testosterone byproduct, that are the root cause of these 2 diseases.
Research shows both positive and negative results. Women and children should not use Saw Palmetto.
TIPS
Both PROPECIA and ROGAINE should be used continuously for at least 6-12 months before assessing the results.
It is not uncommon to see more hair shedding in the first 3-5 weeks of using PROPECIA and ROGAINE. Technically, they work by stimulating the hair follicles to reproduce new hairs that will be pushing out the existing hairs causing them to fall out and replacing them with the new ones.
PROPECIA and ROGAINE are more effective when used together.
It is not recommended to increase the dosage or the frequency of taking these medications. Doing so only increases the side effects, not the efficacy of the drugs.