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Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out
Using finasteride for hair loss is like shooting at sparrows with cannons.
Using finasteride for hair loss is like shooting at sparrows with cannons. The drug.…blocks not only the super hormone but also other hormones that affect thinking and psyche, mood and emotions. Discontinuation of the drug should actually make the hormones work again.…but apparently, something breaks down in some men, in the prostate, in the brain, in the whole organism.
—I Didn’t Want to Go Bald. A Pill the Doctor Gave Me Destroyed My Life (English translation): Die Zeit, Feb. 22, 2018
We wouldn’t recommend that any man take [finasteride], especially not young men.
We are certainly very cautious, because we see the side effects. We wouldn’t recommend that any man take [finasteride], especially not young men. The longer they take it, the greater the risk of experiencing persistent side effects, including after they’ve stopped.
—Do Anti-Baldness Remedies Make You Impotent? Puls, SRF-TV, May 7, 2018
For the first time, we demonstrate a tissue-specific methylation pattern of SRD5A2 promoter in PFS patients.
For the first time, we demonstrate a tissue-specific methylation pattern of SRD5A2 promoter in PFS patients [which] could represent an important mechanism of neuroactive steroid levels and behavioral disturbances previously described in PFS… The SRD5A2 promoter was more frequently methylated in the CSF of PFS patients compared to controls (56.3 versus 7.7%).
—Altered methylation pattern of the SRD5A2 gene in cerebrospinal fluid of post-finasteride patients: a pilot study: Endocrine Connections, July, 2019
FDA is concerned that use of finasteride by pediatric patients may pose long-term safety risks.
Finasteride inhibits Type II 5(alpha)-reductase, which metabolizes testosterone to the potent androgen 5(alpha)-dihydrotestosterone. FDA is concerned that use of finasteride by pediatric patients may pose long-term safety risks regarding growth, development and sexual function.
Reuters Report on Merck Hiding ‘Secrets’ about Propecia’s Risks Brings our FDA Citizen Petition to Light Ahead of Federal Probe
Sept. 16, 2019 Dear Friends: Dan Levine, an investigative journalist with the largest news agency in the Western world, last week published a 3,900-word investigative report headlined Court let Merck hide secrets about a popular drug’s risks. A year in the making, the Reuters story uncovered testimony by former Merck executives in the US Propecia […]
PFS Awareness Hops the Alps into Italy
Aug. 17, 2019 Dear Friends: The Boot has begun kicking Propecia. Last week, Italian health and lifestyle magazine Starbene, which boasts a weekly circulation of 350,000, ran a story on PFS that begins: The entire world, including Italy, is experiencing a tragedy that requires our attention. It’s that of men, often young, who in hopes […]
2019 PFS Foundation Annual Address
Aug. 4, 2019 Dear Friends: Irrefutable. It’s a word we’re aiming to make synonymous with PFS by August 2022, when this foundation turns 10. That leaves us just 41 months. But if recent activity on the research and regulatory fronts are any indication—to say nothing of the surge in efforts by patients and their loved […]
Epigenetic Modifications Do Occur in PFS Patients, New Research Demonstrates
July 20, 2019 Dear Friends: Phase III of the PFS Foundation-sponsored research at the University of Milano (UniMi), which was designed to “study whether epigenetic modifications occur in PFS patients,” has successfully demonstrated epigenetic modifications in PFS patients. Titled Altered methylation pattern of the SRD5A2 gene in cerebrospinal fluid of post-Finasteride patients, the pilot study […]
Evidence of Increased ED Rates in Finasteride Patients Is ‘More Compelling’ than Evidence Against, Says New Paper in JAAD
June 5, 2019 Dear Friends: PFS naysayers’ days may be numbered. According to new research in the world’s most influential dermatology journal, medical science is leaning further toward the conclusion that finasteride can cause sexual dysfunction in men taking a 1-mg dose for hair loss. The paper, titled Sexual dysfunction in men taking systemic dermatologic […]