Welcome

The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation’s primary mission is to fund research on the characterization, underlying biologic mechanisms and treatments of post-finasteride syndrome (PFS). Other goals include generating public awareness of PFS and providing support for patients suffering from the condition.

Adverse drug reaction reports worldwide

Adverse drug reaction reports worldwide

PFS research studies published

PFS research studies published

Known suicides worldwide

Known suicides worldwide

Doctors & researchers speaking out

Doctors & researchers speaking out

Nations warning of PFS

Nations warning of PFS

National media reports worldwide

National media reports worldwide

Sources

Patient Services

Connect with other PFS patients

Consult knowledgeable doctors

Report your side effects

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

Michael Zitzmann, MD, Andrology Professor
University of Munster, Germany

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

Doris Mannhard, MD, Urologist
University Hospital Zürich

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

Roberto Melcangi, PhD, Head of Neuroendocrinology, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences
University of Milano

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.”

—FDA response to Merck & Co.’s citizen petition requesting that finasteride be added to the List of Approved Drugs for Which Additional Pediatric Information May Produce Health Benefits in the Pediatric Population: May 2000

Janet Woodcock, MD, Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
US Food and Drug Administration
More

PFS Patient Query: Suicide Cases

  August 7, 2013   Dear Friends: The PFS Foundation is seeking information about patients who have taken finasteride or dutasteride, and who have attempted suicide or who have completed suicide. This is an area of active research interest and researchers are seeking to obtain medical records and other relevant material for such patients. To […]

Clinical Study of Post-Finasteride Syndrome Launched at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

SOMERSET, N.J., July 1, 2013 – The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation today announced the funding of a major clinical study on post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Titled “A Preliminary, Hypothesis-Generating Investigation of the Post-Finasteride Syndrome: Description of the Phenotype, and Elucidation of the Hormonal, Genetic […]

Abstracts from February 2013 PFS Roundtable Research Discussion in Italy

SOMERSET, N.J., March 25, 2013 – The roundtable discussion at the 7th international steroids and nervous system meeting in Orbassano (TO), Italy, February 16th – 20th 2013, included scientific presentations and discussions amongst multiple medical researchers regarding the Post-Finasteride Syndrome. This event was a great opportunity for the PFS Foundation to increase awareness of PFS […]

Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation Sponsors PFS Roundtable for Medical Researchers at International Meeting on Steroids and the Nervous System

SOMERSET, N.J., Nov. 5, 2012 – The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation is sponsoring a round-table discussion on PFS at the University of Milan’s 7th International Meeting on Steroids and the Nervous System conference in Torino, Italy, Feb. 19, 2013. Titled “Effects of Finasteride Treatment on the Nervous System,” the event is being organized by Roberto Melcangi, […]