September 8 2006, 2:36 pm PT | Posted in: Drugs
I have just found this paper from Sherman Frankel of U of Pennsilvania. He used the Freedom of Information Act to examine the FDA files on Propecia. The conclusions he draws from looking at the data sent to the FDA from Merck is that 0.2mg of Propecia is almost as effective as either a 1mg or 5mg daily dose. He also concludes that the potential side effects (loss of libido) may be reduced on a significantly lower dose. The study can be found at:
Any comments?
I have known that a dose of 0.5mg is almost as effective as 1mg finasteride for hair loss. What I knew prior to reading the above reference came from verbal conversations with Dr. David Whiting (http://www.hairlosstalk.com/newsletter/article75.htm), a world expert on Propecia.
The article you reference is valuable for the few patients I have seen who can not tolerate the drug — those that may be better off with a smaller dose than no medication at all. I will ask Merck to comment on this for me and report it back to my readership. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Related Entries
- Doesn’t 0.25mg of Finasteride Reduce DHT at the Same Rate as 1mg?
- Being Proactive with Propecia — Should I Take a Smaller Dosage?
- 0.2mg Finasteride as Useful as 1mg According to Japanese Study?
- Finasteride at 1mg and 5mg Dosages
- Please Clarify The Effectiveness of Smaller Finasteride Doses
Dr. Rassman, let me start of by saying that this is a very informative site on hair loss. However, the posts and advice this site provides on Propecia I feel are very secued and misleading. This drug has many side effects and they do present themselves if you have been using this drug for more then 2 years. Please visit this site for posts regarding the side effects from people who have taken the drug for many years. This is the link. http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20788&name=PROPECIA. This drug lowers DHT, as a result the body produces excess estrogen which is responsible for gyno and libido decrease. Furthermore, as the medical community is now starting to release, estrogen is not good for the prostate. Vicious circle isn’t it. Lastly, it has been clearly shown that .2 mg of the drug is just as effective as 1 mg for hair loss. So why all the overkill.
I agree with concerned,This Dr Rassman fellow seems to deny any of these hairloss drugs have any side effects.Its very disingenuous to say the least.
There is a remarkably small percent of men that experience side effects. Please realize that the most vocal are the ones with the complaints. For every man that posts an unsubstantiated claim on some website, there are thousands that have no issues and just don’t go trumpeting their victories. I don’t downplay that side effects can exist. I just don’t go believing everything I read on the web without digging deeper and trying to separate fact from fiction. If I was trying to deny side effects existed, I could easily disregard any email I get about them by not posting them to my site. Please don’t call my integrity into question. I don’t work for any drug company and I’m doing this site to assist people.
You have a point,I never really though about it like that.I apologise if i seemed rude.