Hair loss in men is fairly common, with around 6.5 million males affected in the UK. Its most common form is male androgenetic alopecia, also known as male pattern baldness. This is a hereditary condition that affects 30 to 50% of males by the age of 50.
One treatment option to help combat male pattern baldness is an oral tablet called Finasteride. There is also a more well known drug called Propecia, the branded version of finasteride. The action of both Propecia and finasteride is better understood by understanding the cause of male pattern baldness.
Your body uses a number of hormones for important jobs, and occasionally changes these hormones for specific tasks. Your body produces testosterone to regulate vital processes, and will alter it into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). As a side effect, DHT causes the blood flow around your hair follicles to be reduced, leading to shrinkage of hair follicles and hair loss. These drugs prevent this conversion from taking place, therefore protecting the hair follicles and preventing the hair loss from occurring.
This article will help you understand more about both the positive and negative effects of finasteride tablets, and whether it is a suitable option for you to help tackle male pattern baldness.
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What Are the Serious Side Effects of Finasteride?
As with any medication, finasteride is capable of causing some adverse effects when taken as instructed. For your own wellbeing, it is important that you are able to identify any serious side effects. Serious side effects are less common and usually affect fewer than 1 in 1000 people. If you are concerned about these side effects, talk to your doctor.
Severe Allergic Reaction
If you are allergic to finasteride or any other ingredients in it, then you may experience symptoms of a severe allergic reaction, also known as anaphylaxis. These symptoms include facial swellings, hives (raised bumps on the skin) and difficulty swallowing and breathing. If these occur, then it is important that you stop taking finasteride and contact a healthcare professional as soon as possible. If you are experiencing difficulty breathing, contact emergency services immediately.
Depression
Changes in mood including low mood, depression and, rarely, suicidal thoughts can be another side effect of taking finasteride. It’s important to notify someone that you are taking finasteride so that they can help to monitor your mood and let you know if there are any changes. If you notice a significant change in your mood, you should stop taking finasteride and seek medical advice.
Lumps in Breast Area
There are a small number of breast cancer incidences in men who take finasteride – however, it is a rare side effect (affecting roughly 1 in 10,000 men). You should be aware to look out for any changes around the breast area. This includes lumps, pain or nipple discharge. If any of these signs are present, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible.
Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction is an uncommon side effect from use of finasteride. This includes difficulty having an erection (erectile dysfunction), reduced sexual drive and ejaculation problems. It is important to recognise these problems and contact your doctor or pharmacist to discuss them so you can find out about suitable treatments for these conditions.
Please refer to your patient information leaflet for further information on finasteride side effects.
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Should I Take Finasteride?
Despite the potential risk of side effects, finasteride has been proven to be effective against male pattern baldness. A study was conducted into the effectiveness of finasteride on hair loss compared to a placebo “water pills” which contained no drug. As many as 90% of men after 5 years experienced either partial regrowth of their hair or no further hair loss when taking finasteride.
Furthermore, 65% of men taking finasteride reported regrowth of hair with an increase in hair count after the 5 years. Compared to the placebo, which experienced no hair growth, this shows that finasteride prevents hair loss and can even help with the regrowth of hair.
With finasteride clearly being effective in treating male pattern baldness, this raises the question on whether it can be used for women. Female pattern hair loss is prevalent, with many women seeking treatment options to help. However, it has been widely recommended that finasteride is not suitable for use by women.
There are two reasons for this – firstly, finasteride works on testosterone and women naturally have lower levels of testosterone, so therefore finasteride would have a limited effect. Additionally, finasteride must not be taken by pregnant women as it can have a negative effect on the development of the baby.
Before making a decision on taking finasteride, do not hesitate to consult your doctor or healthcare professional to discuss your options. They can go into further depth on these side effects, discuss your medical history and assess you for anything that might prevent you from seeing success with finasteride – for example, if you were taking a medication that clashes with finasteride. It is important to consider all the treatment options for tackling hair loss to find the most suitable option for you.
