April, 2004
Finasteride in the treatment of alopecia.
Libecco JF, Bergfeld WF.
Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Dermatology and Dermapathology,
Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Finasteride is a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor approved for the treatment of male
pattern hair loss.
Originally approved for the treatment of benign prostatic
hypertrophy in 1992, its approval was expanded in 1997 to include the treatment
of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) in men at a dose of 1 mg/day.
Finasteride inhibits 5alpha-reductase, thereby prohibiting the
conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is implicated in
the development of hairless in some men.
Reduction in DHT results in a significant improvement in
subjective and objective assessments of hair growth and density. Finasteride is
well-tolerated with a favourable adverse event history.
The most common adverse events include reduced libido, decreased
ejaculate volume and gynaecomastia.
Publication Types:
Review
Review, Tutorial
PMID: 15102575 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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