Dutasteride 0.5mg (Avodart) Phase III Study Results
A recently published study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that in a 6 month limited span, 0.5mg dutasteride (commonly known as Avodart) was shown to be effective at treating hair loss in men aged 18-49 years. Now we have known for some time that this drug is effective, but I’m still unclear about side effect risks. This is a stronger medication than finasteride and there is no real statement by the FDA on the issue of fertility with dutasteride that has been reported by some medical authorities. I have prescribed dutasteride at this point on a very limited basis with the caveat that the sterility factor is unknown.
It is worth pointing out that dutasteride’s half life is measured in weeks, while finasteride’s half life is measured in hours (finasteride currently being the only FDA approved DHT blocker for treating hair loss). In other words, if you do experience side effects from dutasteride they’ll take much, much longer to clear.
I must caution that dutasteride isn’t FDA approved to treat hair loss at this time, but these results appear to be a positive step in the right direction. Also, this study does not compare dutasteride to finasteride, but rather dutasteride to placebo… so that’s still a big question mark.
Read the study abstract — Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of dutasteride 0.5 mg once daily in male patients with male pattern hair loss: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study.
Photos from the study can be found at Regrowth.com
Not to be negative, but what did this study really discover? If it did not touch on saftey or side effects i don’t see the point, i thought it was pretty much a given that avodart would work for hair loss.
Hmmm. According to the clinicaltrials.gov site, it was published last year on that site but the official release and final updates just occurred recently, which is why it was published in the journal this month.
The question also remains, what is the effect on frontal hair loss? NW2s were not included in the study, and many people, including myself, notice increased hair loss in the temples when switching from finas to dutas. After six months I switched back and the temple loss slowed down. Many speculate the increase in scalp testosterone – much higher than that from finas.