Baldness Drug Banned for Masking Steroids

Feb 10 2006

The prescription drug that caused banned Olympic slider Zach Lund to fail a doping test was put on the prohibited list last year because it can mask steroid use.

Approved for U.S. sale in 1997 to treat hair loss, finasteride, the key ingredient in the drugs Propecia and Proscar, fights baldness by reducing the production of DHT, a natural hormone made from testosterone in the scalp.

Lund used Proscar, which has a higher dose of finasteride than Propecia.

In genetically vulnerable men, DHT can promote male pattern baldness — hair loss on top and the middle of the front of the head. In a process that is not well understood, DHT somehow affects the scalp's hair-growing follicles.

A man taking Propecia may see reduced hair loss after three months and new hair growth at six months, says Merck & Co., the drug's maker. One study found that after five years of treatment, two-thirds of men had gained hair, according to the company.

Women who are pregnant or could become pregnant are warned not to handle the pill because it can cause birth defects in male babies.