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Gut Microbiota Population is Altered in PFS Patients, New Research Demonstrates
Sept. 28, 2020 Dear Friends: Phase IV of the PFS Foundation-sponsored research at the University of Milano (UniMi), designed to investigate the presence of altered gut microbiota in PFS patients, has successfully demonstrated the presence of altered gut microbiota in PFS patients. Titled Alterations of gut microbiota composition in post-finasteride patients: a pilot study, the […]
2020 PFS Foundation Annual Address
Aug. 4, 2020 Dear Friends: Back in March, when COVID-19 first swept America, our patient manager was chatting with a thirtysomething patient who’s been suffering from PFS since 2010. Let’s call him Andrew. Andrew had recently run into a colleague from the last full-time job Andrew held before developing the condition and being forced to […]
New Russian-Language Website Boosts our Potential Readership by 265 Million
May 6, 2020 Dear Friends: Thanks to the latest foreign-language edition of our website, PFS awareness is alive and well and living freely in Russia. Ditto those nations where Russian is an official or secondary language, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Now, […]
Penile Vascular Abnormalities Found in Majority of PFS Patients in Baylor College of Medicine Study
April 28, 2020 Dear Friends: In a newly published prospective case-control study in Translational Andrology and Urology, Mohit Khera, Director of the Laboratory for Andrology Research at Baylor College of Medicine, and his research team report the presence of vascular abnormalities in the penis of PFS patients (median age of 38) who previously discontinued the […]
Wall Street Journal Letter to Editor Addresses Telemeds’ Easy Access to Finasteride
March 11, 2020 Dear Friends: On February 21, The Wall Street Journal ran a 1,280-word story headlined Losing Your Hair? Why This Solution Is No Longer Shameful, which went, in part, like this: [In 1991]…effective methods like Rogaine or hair plugs were discussed in hushed tones. A… TV ad didn’t mention hair loss, hawking instead […]
Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out
Men under the age of 40 who use finasteride for alopecia are at risk for suicide if they develop persistent sexual adverse effects and insomnia.
An important pattern of symptoms was common among all cases who committed suicide in the setting of finasteride use: insomnia and persistent sexual dysfunction after medication discontinuation. Insomnia and fatigue/tiredness were some of the most debilitating symptoms… Men under 40 years of age who use finasteride for alopecia are at risk of suicide if they develop persistent sexual adverse effects and insomnia.
—Finasteride and Suicide: A Postmarketing Case Series: Dermatology, January 14, 2020
Two subjects—eight percent—committed suicide during or after the study.
While the sexual side effects of 5ARIs are well known, there may be persistent genitourinary, physical, psycho-cognitive, anti-androgenic and penile vascular changes after 5ARI discontinuation. Use of 5ARIs for treatment of AGA may lead to persistent sexual, genitourinary, physical, psycho-cognitive, and anti-androgenic sequelae even after cessation of 5ARI therapy… Two subjects (8%) committed suicide during or after the study.
—Penile vascular abnormalities in young men with persistent side effects after finasteride use for the treatment of androgenic alopecia: Translational Andrology and Urology, April 2020
[PFS] is clearly a problem that is important to the general public.
Much of the medical community has yet to recognize [PFS] as a real clinical entity. Our… analysis indicates that, nonetheless, [PFS] is clearly a problem that is important to the general public that warrants intervention. Thus, it is inappropriate to dismiss this condition.
—Global online interest in finasteride sexual side effects, International Journal of Impotence Research: September 13, 2022
Seems that almost half of urologists instruct their patients to stop finasteride!
It’s Monday, which means it’s time for a poll! In evaluating fertility, how do you counsel men taking finasteride for hair loss?… Results are up! Seems that almost half of urologists instruct their patients to stop finasteride!
● Stop finasteride: 45.6%
● OK to keep taking: 17.5%
● It depends: 36.8%
—Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (via Twitter): October 11, 2022