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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.”
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 […]
Germany Joins French Defiance of Finasteride
May 30, 2019 Dear Friends: If PFS awareness is what it takes to unite Germany and France, so be it. Last week brought a slew of media coverage out of Deutschland that closely mirrors what we saw a month earlier in the French Republic. The awareness assault began May 21 with a report on the […]
PFS Awareness Unfurling at a Furious Pace in France
April 29, 2019 Dear Friends: The French are not fond of finasteride. March brought a barrage of media coverage in the nation’s escalating efforts to warn citizens against the medication’s potential dangers. On the broadcast front, three network news programs highlighted the suffering of PFS patients. In a segment on the France 5 program Allo […]
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 […]