2011 ISHRS Meeting Review, Part 5 – Finasteride
Note: The annual meeting of hair surgeons was in held in Alaska this past week. The following review is very selective and is biased by the things that were interesting to me and what I (Dr. Rassman) thought could be interesting to the readers.
This is part 5. More to come…
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Does finasteride (Propecia) impact the body’s inflammation response in hair loss?
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Dr. Marty Sawaya produced evidence that there is a connection between genetic hair loss and inflammation of the hair follicle. She believes that DHT may have a direct impact on the inflammatory process. With this insight, other potential treatments for genetic hair loss and other hair and skin disease may evolve.
Are finasteride’s sexual side effects overstated?
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Despite internet complaints to the contrary, there are no case reports of sexual dysfunction that remained after finasteride was stopped in those patients who reported sexual side effects. The medical literature shows that sexual dysfunction is present in 40+ percent of men over age 50, so it was difficult to assess the 2% occurrence of sexual side effects in a comparable population. Despite this, changes in warning labels have been mandated in the United Kingdom, Sweden and most recently the US.
One joke on the floor I overheard was that based upon the internet reports, the average 50 year old had a better than 40% risk of sexual side effects, but that reduced to only 2% for those reporting side effects from Propecia, making Propecia less risky for those side effects.
Just to clarify, do you mean that over 40% of men over age 50 *not* taking fin report some type of sexual problem, correct? You do not mean that over 40% of men over 50 *taking* fin report sexual side effects.
Correct. 40% of men over 50 without ever taking finasteride have sexual dysfunction. Some statistics show 39% of 40 year old men and 65% of men over 65 years old.
What was the evidence provided that supported the connection between MBP and follicle inflamation? Might this be proof of the common complaint of “itching” by people suffering from MPB? Did the work result in a publication that might accessible to the public?