In the News – Claims of Severe Side Effects from Propecia
Snippet from the article:
Young men could be risking their sexual health by taking a commonly used anti-baldness drug, claim some doctors. They say finasteride, sold in the UK as Propecia, can cause serious side effects and isn’t adequately labelled.
A quarter of men in their 20s show signs of male pattern baldness, with six and a half million males in the UK affected. Propecia manufacturer Merck says it continually monitors the drug’s safety and has updated the label.
Read the full story at BBC — Baldness drug Propecia ‘risking men’s sexual health’
I always worry when a single case is put forth as a typical example of a problem. I do not doubt this young man could’ve seen some side effects, but I would think that this is a very rare example if it is true. I do doubt the long term impotence reported, however. Propecia has a half life of 4-5 hours, which means it is out of the blood stream in a day. Tissue fixation of the drug may last for up to a week, but by then, all of the effects of the drug should be gone. Unfortunately, the report gives us little insights into objective evidence for the ED that doctors would explore, such as nocturnal penile tumescence studies, to substantiate if the problem is real or psychological.
I’ve received a lot of emails about this article already, so I know it’s making the rounds. The problem for all those interested in finasteride is that these stories become viral on the internet, resulting in waves of panic for those considering the decision to take it. We each have choices in our lives, and the risks vs the value of such a drug is a decision each of us should make.
For what it’s worth, the young man in the article did say that the drug reduced his hair loss. I am not suggesting that it is worth losing your sexuality to keep your hair, but there may be more to this story than the article seems to want to point out. As I’ve mentioned before, one of my sons is on Propecia and his hair loss stopped (and even reversed a little) since he started to take it.
i really would of expected better journalism from the bbc than to make such a statement from 1 case
the problem with the “permanent side effects” bandwagon is that they can not prove the drug is the cause, they can only speculate
the fact of the matter is that a lot of every day items can cause impotence but because they are not explicitly labelled people will naturally blame the drug that is explicitly labelled despite the fact that many everyday items are MORE likely to cause ED
This is disturbing news writing, to say the least.
I place a great deal of trust in the reporting from the BBC as integrity is generally of a high standard.
But this is irresponsible journalism at best; where are the doctors he makes mention of? What are their credentials? No quotes, referencing or anything from qualified personnel.
It stinks of headline grabbing, but I wouldn’t normally associate this with the BBC, so it is worrisome.
Hmm a little sensationalist to say the least. This is the ‘yoof’ news for radio 1 etc and is aimed at the younger generation, rather than the mainstream bbc news.
It says he had a penile implant after 6 months? Isn’t that drastic for someone his age? Did he try meds, what was his medical history?
It also says he started buying a drug on the internet. Was he prescribed this, did he see a doctor?,was it a legit site?