Question:

How effective is finasteride and does it stop or slow hair loss or actually re-grow it?  What are the side effects and how common are they?

Answer:

Finasteride or Propecia is very effective in slowing down or stopping hair loss.  In a smaller percentage of patients they will actually re-grow thicker hair.  The percentage of patients that stop hair loss in the crown of their hair is 90%, 65% of patients will actually increase their hair count in the crown.  However, this does not mean that they will actually grow a thick amount of hair because in the studies that were performed any number of hairs that were increased over the baseline were counted as an increased amount of hair so the number of patients that actually increase their hair thickly was small.

To summarize, Propecia is very effective in stopping or slowing down hair loss but a smaller percentage of patients will actually thicken their hair as well.

The most common side effects from Propecia are sexual and the incidence is 1.8%.  This includes anything from loss of libido to erectile dysfunction or even dry organisms.  Lesser common side effects include testicular pain, a lump in the breast, or generally not feeling well.  Those are all of very, very low incidence.

Posted by: Dr. Siporin