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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
Blocking 5alpha-reductase by finasteride treatment may have broad consequences for the nervous system.
[W]e have evaluated in male rats the effects of a subchronic treatment with low doses of finasteride.…and the consequences of its withdrawal.…on neuroactive steroid levels…. Interestingly, at the withdrawal, some of these effects persisted, and different changes in neuroactive steroid levels, and in the expression of receptors, were also detected. Altogether these findings suggest that the block of the enzyme 5alpha-reductase by finasteride treatment may have broad consequences for the nervous system.
—Effect of Finasteride, an Inhibitor of the Enzyme 5alpha-Reductase, in the Nervous System: The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, July 2017
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.”
New Spanish-Language Website Ups Our Potential Readership by 500+ Million
April 11, 2019 Dear Friends: Today marks yet another milestone in PFS awareness: Spanish speakers across the globe can now read all about the condition—aka “síndrome post-finasterida” (SPF)—in their native tongue. To access our Spanish-language content, simply click the Spanish flag aside the search box at the top of any pfsfoundation.org page. To toggle back […]
Regulatory Update: Canada Concludes ‘There May Be a Link Between Finasteride and Risk of Suicidal Ideation’
February 29, 2019 Dear Friends: Could Canada be thawing to the notion of a finasteride-free nation? Earlier this week, our neighbor to the north announced that Propecia and Proscar patients may be at risk for considering and attempting suicide, and mandated that the manufacturer update its product insert to reflect this potential danger. The move […]
PFS is Front-page News in the Netherlands
February 25, 2019 Dear Friends: PFS awareness is fanning out across Europe faster than a leaky dyke. The latest nation to take up our charge is the Netherlands, via its second-largest newspaper, De Volkskrant, which boasts a daily circulation of more than 250,000. In a 2,600-word story that ran last week, reporter Irene de Zwaan […]
Regulatory Update: ‘Muscle-related Disorders’ Added to Canadian Finasteride Label in Response to Report by FDA-equivalent Agency
July 28, 2018 Dear Friends: Canada has taken an important first step toward keeping its citizens apprised of finasteride’s many potentially serious and persistent side effects. In the June edition of its Health Product InfoWatch, Health Canada (Canada’s version of the US Food and Drug Administration) reported that “New information regarding the risk of muscle-related […]
French Urologist to Top TV News Mag: Propecia is a potentially dangerous drug—’I even told my brother-in-law to stop taking it’
February 10, 2019 Dear Friends: Vive la France! This time we call your attention to a PFS report last week on 66 Minutes, which models itself after the iconic American news magazine 60 Minutes and boasts a Sunday-evening audience of two million viewers. The 14-minute segment, titled Is This Hair-loss Drug Dangerous? (English-subtitled version here), […]