An observational retrospective evaluation of 79 young men with long-term adverse effects after use of finasteride against androgenetic alopecia.

Concern regarding adverse effects of finasteride is increasing. We aimed to determine the type and frequency of symptoms in men having long-term sexual and non-sexual side effects after finasteride treatment (a condition recently called post-finasteride syndrome, PFS).… Out of 79 participants…the most frequent sexual symptoms referred were a loss of penis sensitivity (87.3%), decreased ejaculatory force (82.3%), and low penile temperature (78.5%). The most frequent non-sexual symptoms have reduced the feeling of life pleasure or emotions (anhedonia) (75.9%), lack of mental concentration (72.2%), and loss of muscle tone/mass (51.9%).…Further studies are necessary to investigate the pathophysiological and biochemical pathways leading to the post-finasteride syndrome.

Chiriacò G, Cauci S, Mazzon G, Trombetta C, et al. An observational retrospective evaluation of 79 young men with long-term adverse effects after use of finasteride against androgenetic alopecia. Andrology. 2016 Mar;4(2):245-50. doi: 10.1111/andr.12147. Epub 2016 Jan 13. [PubMed]