I am 24 years old and now have advanced my balding to include the front and the crown. I don’t want to be bald like my dad who is probably has a Class 6 pattern of balding. He said he got most of it when by the time he was 35. What if I started taking Propecia when I was 18, would that have preserved my hair?
That is a great question. Most advanced balding pattern patients have their pattern established in their 20s. Despite that almost 20 years that Propecia has been on the market, we really do not know if the progression could have been stopped had you taken the drug when you were 18. There would have had to be controlled clinical trials where one group who had advanced balding in their families were put on Propecia and the other group not. In that situation, we would know the answer to your question, but no such study has ever been done.
I suspect, however, that had you taken the medication when you were 18, you would have slowed down the progression of the balding and most of such young men in the 18 year old bracket, would not develop their final balding pattern for many years. i doubt that the final pattern would have been thwarted, but for such men, delaying into their 30s could give them the benefits for possibly another decade of so. We will probably never really know the answer, but for many men who I placed on finasteride (Propecia) I have seen the process slow, stop or occasionally reverse. Better to do it than not to take the drug if you are one of these 18 year old men. At 24, it can’t hurt and probably will help.
