Jan 26
Prescription Propecia
Posted by admin @ 10:59 am
Prescription propecia
What is male pattern hair loss?
Male pattern hair loss is a common condition in which men experience thinning of the hair on the scalp.
Often, this results in a receding hairline and/or balding on the top of the head. These changes typically
begin gradually in men in their 20s.
Doctors believe male pattern hair loss is due to heredity and is dependent on hormonal effects. Doctors
refer to this type of hair loss as androgenetic alopecia.
Results of clinical studies:
For 12 months, doctors studied over 1800 men aged 18 to 41 with mild to moderate amounts of ongoing
hair loss. Of these men, approximately 1200 with hair loss at the top of the head participated in additional
extension studies, resulting in a total study time of up to five years. In general, men who took PROPECIA
maintained or increased the number of visible scalp hairs and noticed improvement in their hair in the first
year. Improvement, compared to the start of the study, was maintained through the remaining years of
treatment. Hair counts in men who did not take PROPECIA continued to decrease.
In one study, patients were questioned on the growth of body hair. PROPECIA did not appear to affect
hair in places other than the scalp.loss propecia
Will PROPECIA work for me?
For most men, PROPECIA increases the number of scalp hairs in the first year of treatment, helping to fill
in thin or balding areas of the scalp. In addition, men taking PROPECIA may note a slowing of hair loss.
Although results will vary, generally you will not be able to grow back all of the hair you have lost. There is
not sufficient evidence that PROPECIA works in the treatment of receding hairline in the temporal area on
both sides of the head.
Male pattern hair loss occurs gradually over time. On average, healthy hair grows only about half an inch
each month. Therefore, it will take time to see any effect.
You may need to take PROPECIA daily for three months or more before you see a benefit from taking
PROPECIA. PROPECIA can only work over the long term if you continue taking it. If the drug has not
Prescription propecia
PROPECIA? (finasteride) Tablets
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worked for you in twelve months, further treatment is unlikely to be of benefit. If you stop taking
PROPECIA, you will likely lose the hair you have gained within 12 months of stopping treatment. You
should discuss this with your doctor.
PROPECIA is not effective in the treatment of hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia in postmenopausal
women. PROPECIA should not be taken by women.
How should I take PROPECIA?
Follow your doctor’s instructions.
• Take one tablet by mouth each day.
• You may take PROPECIA with or without food.
• If you forget to take PROPECIA, do not take an extra tablet. Just take the next tablet as usual.
PROPECIA will not work faster or better if you take it more than once a day.
Who should NOT take PROPECIA?
• PROPECIA is for the treatment of male pattern hair loss in MEN ONLY and should not be taken by
women (see A warning about PROPECIA and pregnancy).
• PROPECIA should not be taken by children.
• Anyone allergic to any of the ingredients.
A warning about PROPECIA and pregnancy.
• Women who are or may potentially be pregnant:
- must not use PROPECIA
- should not handle crushed or broken tablets of PROPECIA.
If a woman who is pregnant with a male baby absorbs the active ingredient in PROPECIA, either
by swallowing or through the skin, it may cause abnormalities of a male baby’s sex organs. If a
woman who is pregnant comes into contact with the active ingredient in PROPECIA, a doctor
should be consulted. PROPECIA tablets are coated and will prevent contact with the active
ingredient during normal handling, provided that the tablets are not broken or crushed.
Prescription propecia
Baldness drug might avert prostate cancer - Prevention in a Pill? - use of loss propecia
The drug finasteride plays a curious dual role: It can help a man grow back thinning hair and also alleviate urinary problems. The drug achieves both effects by ratcheting down production of dihydrotestosterone, a hormone linked to male pattern baldness and enlargement of the prostate.
Researchers funded by the National Cancer Institute now report that loss propecia also prevents some cases of prostate cancer. Merck and Company of Whitehouse Station, N.J., markets finasteride as Proscar for prostate problems and, in a lower dose, as Propecia for baldness. The company has not announced whether it will ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve finasteride for prevention of prostate cancer. Some cancer specialists, however, doubt that the drug will have widespread value in protecting men against the disease.
In 1994, researchers began recruiting healthy men over age 55 who showed no signs of prostate cancer in physical examinations and blood tests. The scientists randomly assigned 18,882 men to receive a daily finasteride pill or a placebo.
loss propecia
During the trial, the men underwent annual examinations and blood tests, which were followed by biopsies when warranted. The biopsies revealed cancers among 571 men in the placebo group but only 435 of those getting finasteride, reports Ian M. Thompson of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio.
The researchers combined those data with results of biopsies of seemingly healthy men as they reached the end of their 7-year participation in the study. The biopsies turned up hundreds of hidden cancers in both groups. Overall, 18.4 percent of 4,368 men who had taken finasteride and 24.4 percent of 4,692 men getting the placebo were diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, aggressive forms of prostate cancer showed up in 6.4 percent of men on finasteride and in only 5.1 percent of those taking the placebo.
The apparent overall benefit of finasteride led an independent oversight panel to stop the study 15 months early, before the remaining men underwent a biopsy, says Phyllis J. Goodman of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The findings will appear in the July 17 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Prescription propecia
“This is the first intervention that is proven to reduce a man’s risk of prostate cancer,” Thompson says.
Some scientists argue that the findings don’t warrant the drug’s use as a preventive treatment. John D. McConnell of the University of Texas-Southwestern in Dallas notes that doctors did cancer biopsies at the end of the study but not at the start. So, some men might have had microscopic prostate tumors all along, he says. While finasteride might have kept some hidden cancers in check, assessing the drug’s protective effect is difficult when the volunteers’ original cancer status is uncertain.
“I would be very cautious about recommending finasteride to a patient purely to lower prostate cancer risk,” says McConnell.
Furthermore, “the study results suggest that finasteride may accelerate the growth of high-grade [aggressive] cancers,” says Peter T. Scardino of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, writing in the same issue of NEJM. The drug could limit cancers dependent on dihydrotestosterone but give other cancers a competitive advantage, he says.Tags:Prescription propecia,loss propecia
