December 18 2008, 11:33 am PT | Posted in: Drugs
Dutasteride is three times more potent than finasteride inhibiting the type II enzyme and 100 times more potent than finasteride inhibiting the type I form of the DHT producing enzyme. Dutasteride is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of Male Pattern Hair Loss and is approved at a dose of 0.5 mg a day for the treatment of prostate enlargement. While both the type I and type II enzymes are found in the hair follicle, there is a recent study which shows that type I is present in the human brain. The function of this enzyme in the brain is still unclear.
Would you say that finasteride is clearly the better option as it doesnt block the type 1 enzyme that is present in the human brain. Also Dr.Rassman would you say that the chances are that the messages you have got from people saying they are loosing their wit and stumbling over their words are true. Their is clearly a link between a drug blocking an enzyme thats present in the brain and brain related symptoms such as stumbling over words and loosing their wit.
I really do not know anything about the brain impact of DHT blocking medications and I certainly can not place cause and effect together. Your questions are good, but most of the work in this area is done in animal models which may not extrapolate to humans. What you think is clear, I think is not. More research needs to be done before I could answer your question with any confidence.
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I can tell you from personal experience that suppressing DHT production via Finasteride is NOT a good idea. I had terrible neurological effects while on Propecia/Finasteride, and some still persist to this day despite being off for months. Sexual side effects have remained as well.
Not a joke. Read up on similar stories at propeciahelp.com. I’m “velocity” on there. Take the risk for your hair if you want, but if you have side effects, be prepared to go through at least a year of hell. Or, you may be even more unlucky and never recover. That’s happened to some guys.
Don’t put your faith in Merck or the FDA. Or this guy’s blog, for that matter. He’s not an endocrinologist and is pretty clueless when it comes to the nasty effects of the drug.
I’ve written about the propeciahelp.com forum before. But then again, why would anyone bother putting faith in someone that posts comments on a blog using initials? At least I back up what I say with my name.
I took Propecia for 8 weeks and only had neurological/mental side effects i.e. slurred speech/mental cognitive impairment/loss of wit/tripping over words/dissociation/anxiety. I don’t know what everyone else felt from Propecia but I can tell you from experience that it messed me up and six months after stopping it hasn’t gone away.