Have Studies Shown That 0.1mg Finasteride Reduces Almost as Much DHT as 1mg?
You say that 0.25mg is about 50% effective as 1mg. Any idea why this would be when studies seem to show that even 0.1mg seems to reduce almost as much DHT as 1mg?
If 0.25mg would only reduce DHT levels by half the amount of the 1mg then I’d be quite inclined to try it just to have some benefit to my hair. I have reasons for not wanting to reduce the DHT in my body as low as 1mg would.
Thanks.
I don’t know which study you’re referring to that says 0.1mg is as effective as 1mg, but I am sure the 0.1mg finasteride dose should have some benefit. The recommended standard dose for treating hair loss is 1mg, and I’m sure this wasn’t chosen arbitrarily. Good luck with splitting the small pill into 10 pieces.
Hi Dr Rassman,
I can’t find the study right now but I have seen before (think it was even referred to in another previous question on here) that finasteride has a ‘flat dose response curve’ where even 0.1mg of a dose may inhibit DHT by about 65% and 1mg only by about 5% more.
With this in mind I’m really interested in why the effects of 0.25mg could be said to have 50% the benefit to hair.
Personally, I would be very happy if the study I am referring to was wrong and a smaller dose reduced DHT levels but to a lesser extent as this would mean that i could balance the benefits to my hair alongside other concerns i have about lowering my DHT levels by as much as 70%.
I know i am not the only person who would be glad as this is discussed on hair loss forums regularly and MANY people would like to compromise between having a hair benefit and not altering their hormones to a full extent.
I feel that this is something which hair transplant/doctors should be more aware of – not everyone who would like to keep their hair wants to alter their hormones quite so much …for various reasons…athletic performance, side effects, risk of future adverse effects etc…
I’d be really grateful if you or one of your colleagues could research this and post more about it in future as I (like many others) am at a loss to understand things and as such can’t at the moment decide whether it is worth me taking finasteride for my personal circumstances. I suppose that I could try the drug at various doses and take blood tests but this is expensive and ideally I don’t want to use my body as an experiment – it would be good to have an idea beforehand. Please note that my issue with taking the drug is not as simple as whether or not I would get noticeable adverse side effects…i have other concerns such as the effects of long term (potentially 30 + years) usage .
Many Thanks for reading.
Hi Tim,
I believe you are referring to an independent study conducted by Sherman Frankel who is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Some time ago, he took it upon himself to investigate the dose-response curve and side effects prevalence for Proscar and subsequently Propecia shortly after its FDA approval.
https://www.physics.upenn.edu/facultyinfo/frankel/papers/propeciafda2/index.html