Questioning the HairDX Finasteride Test

Good day Dr.,

I’m just riddled with questions regarding this new HairDX test and although it’s brand new, I was wondering if you could help me clear up at least one. How accurate do they boast this test to be? They say: “Scientists discovered that among men that had the best response to Finasteride approximately 70% had a CAG score below 22 while among men that had a subtle response to Finasteride approximately 70% had a CAG score above 22”

Does that mean that even if someone has a score above 22, there’s still a chance at having a best response? I mean, say the score comes back above 22… is that the end of hope or is there still a chance the pill could work? And if someone scores below 22, does that mean it’s a slam dunk that it’ll work for them?

Thanks again for the great site.

You do not need the HairDX test to find out if you have a balding gene if you already show miniaturization and/or balding. The CAG repeat test, however, does suggest how sensitive you will be to a drug like finasteride. This may have value in establishing expectations for finasteride, but any benefit of finasteride is better than none. I’m not completely familiar with the HairDX tests yet, as I’ve not used them, so I can’t give you specifics on what their descriptions mean.

If you believe you are balding without much physical evidence of balding (even after a miniaturization test), I would not recommend Propecia to you even if you test positive from the HairDX finasteride test, as we bald at different ages and although you may be positive for the genes for hair loss, if you are not yet losing hair, no treatment is needed until it starts.