Dr. Rassman,I have been on finasteride for a little over a year, and it has pretty much stopped my hair loss. Needless to say, I am a pretty big fan.
However, I just came across an article that seems to think that finasteride has some questionable long-term safety concerns that deal with its ability to block allopregnanolone. The article seems to hint that the lack of allopregnanolone in the body could lead to neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s in the future. I am not a doctor, so I was hoping that you could give me your thoughts and possibly speculate on the article’s validity.
Thanks.
Here’s the article: Allopregnenolone (synthesized from 5AR) may prevent neurodegeneration
My thoughts are that if you do enough scouring and research on the Internet for any hint of negative effects associated with any medication you will be amply rewarded… and thus spiraling you down the path of confusion, fear, indecision, mistrust of the medical field, and eventually diverting you from your original path of enlightenment and trying to take control of your health.
I am not trying to brush off the article, but I really do not know what the clinical value is with the research (on mice) you found or what it means at hinting of a correlation. But ALL medications have risks and benefits. I personally believe finasteride 1mg is a very safe medication and I prescribe it to my patients. On a positive note, there are actual human studies on 5mg finasteride that was shown to reduce the risk of certain prostate cancer.
A lot of the questions we receive through this site have to do with finasteride (Propecia/Proscar) and its side effects or other various concerns. In the real world grand scheme of things, out of thousands of drugs that people take daily, finasteride is a very safe medication. Furthermore, I highly doubt I am answering all these question from men who ONLY take finasteride (no other drugs) and does not have any medical or psychological issues… plus doesn’t smoke, drink alcohol, or take recreational drugs (such as marijuana). All medications and herbs and even certain foods can have negative effects. My point is that anything is a possibility, but we need to look at the probability of such side effects and think of the risks and benefits of what we do. This mouse study just doesn’t cut it. I do appreciate you sending the article though.
Stepping down from my soap box now…
In a recent publication, erectile dysfunction (ED) was found to be a robust predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in men with cardiovascular disease or those with risk factors for cardiac disease. The connection between the blood vessels of the heart and the penis show that the blood vessels of the penis mimic those of the heart when there is significant cardiovascular disease present. These findings were recently 
I’d say Rogaine (minoxidil) is a good alternative, though it doesn’t inhibit the DHT that causes hair loss. I wouldn’t say it is a waste of time, but it just works differently from the Propecia (which does block DHT). Minoxidil is FDA approved to treat hair loss, and you might see some decent regrowth. I won’t make any guarantees to how much growth you might see, but is worth a shot.
What is Kanye West on the norwood scale? 
You know, after years of answering thousands of questions here on BaldingBlog, nothing is a stupid question.
Hair growing faster/longer in the summer isn’t a proven fact, but if it is something you notice I can’t dispute it. I’ve read all kinds of theories about why hair might grow faster in the summer (if so, likely due to hormones), but some people believe that hair actually sheds at a higher rate in the summer compared to the winter. Unfortunately, there is no good science on this subject. Maybe it is from a subjective perspective. 
