Finasteride - Generic Propecia

The good news for men using the hair loss drug Propecia made by the pharmaceutical company Merck is that following ongoing testing over seven years it is clear that the medication is extremely unlikely to make men suffer from erectile dysfunction. The active ingredient of the Propecia drug is finasteride and it is also used to treat men who suffer from cancer of the prostate. In fact its original application was for this illness and it was only noted that at a later stage that men who used it suffered less from male pattern baldness and that it could even reverse the effects of the genetic condition.

The research that was done by the Southwest Oncology Group looked at more than 17,000 men who were over the age of 50 and who were regular users of the finasteride drug. The dose that men get to treat cancer of the prostate is a much larger does than is used for men who suffer from male pattern baldness, and it was seen that those men using the finasteride did not report more erectile dysfunction than those men given a placebo tablet over the years.

At Ukmedix News we have two observations to make regarding the purported link between erectile dysfunction as a side effect and the Propecia hair loss drug. Firstly over a certain time the body adjusts to the finasteride in the system and any slight erectile function difficulties are likely to go away. If you are using the Propecia drug and it is affecting your erectile function only slightly you should give it a bit of time and it should go away naturally on its own.

Secondly those men overly concerned that Propecia may have an effect on their erectile function may suffer from a psychological lack of confidence due to using the drug which could materialise in performance anxiety in the bedroom. Men should be aware that only in 1% of cases were any difficulties with erectile function encountered and many of these could be entirely unconnected to the use of the Propecia drug.

After Ukmedix News reported that the Israeli sailing sportsman Udi Gal had tested positive for the use of the finasteride drug (Propecia) and thus was likely to be banned from participating in the Beijing Olympic games many of his fans were very upset along with the members of the Israeli Yachting Federation. The good news however is that the World Anti Doping Authority have decided to allow him to participate in the games having reviewed the facts of the case and deciding that there were “no grounds” to suspect that he had been using the preparation for “performance enhancement”.

The Olympic sailing regatta will take part in Qingdao and Udi Gal is considered to be one of Israel’s most likely contenders for a medal in Beijing. When he tested positive for the use of Propecia it was a big blow to Israeli sporting hopes especially as he was head of the Olympic Sportsmen Committee. Further tests have been conducted on Mr. Gal which WADA say show that he was not using any performance enhancing substances which it has been claimed that Propecia can disguise.

Not everybody will be happy with this decision and it is rumoured that other nations are angry that his case has been brushed aside so easily and that despite breaking the WADA rules he has been allowed to compete. Mr. Gal has not got off scot free but has been given a formal warning which is the lowest form of sanction that the WADA can issue.

The hair loss drug Propecia is without a doubt the most successful hair loss medication on the market today and therefore the temptation for professional athletes to use it is very great. Sometimes it is the only thing that will stop them losing their hair and therefore they are prepared to take a risk to use it.

A number of sporting organisations have been calling for Propecia to be taken off the list of banned substances for professional athletes provided that they first inform WADA that they are using it.

There has been a lot of recent press about the hair loss wonder drug known as Propecia. The news about Propecia is that it seems to work in a large number of cases for the men who take it. Unfortunately, because of known side effects, Propecia is not available for women (as of 9/98).

Whenever there is a new drug like Propecia, a lot of people are willing to try it without the benefit of knowing whether it works or not.

In those situations it is always best, when possible, to get the first hand experience of a regular user of the drug. The Hair Boutique’s hair loss expert, Spencer David Kobren, has had a lot of experience with Propecia and it has worked very well for him.

We decided that we wanted to hear feedback directly from a new user of Propecia. We felt that a new user could give us current information on using this new hair loss drug. The Hair Boutique recently asked one of our regular guest authors to write about his new experiences with Propecia.

Dave Decker shares with the Hair Boutique visitors what he has experienced since he started taking Propecia.

While Dave has very long hair, he has reported “that hair loss is also a concern”.

Dave states that “I feel fortunate that my hair loss has been progressing very slowly. If male relatives (genetics) are any indication, my prognosis is both good and bad. Bad in that I won’t be able to keep all of my hair, but good in that I will be able to keep most of it. All of my elder male relatives have hair that has thinned on top, but none have gone bald on top.