Finasteride - Generic Propecia

Propecia is in the news after it has been targeted by a sports people and officials all of whom who say that the anti-doping rules and regulations of international sport are too draconian and often pick up innocent victims.

Propecia that is made from the drug finasteride is a banned drug and this is not because of any performance enhancing effects that it gives off but merely because it is said to disguise other performance enhancing drugs when it is used in conjunction with them.

It is likely than some athletes who use Propecia for male pattern hair loss and really do not take any performance enhancing medicine have been caught out and have been banned from their respective sports.

One famous example is the skeleton racer Zach Lund who was banned from his sport after being found with finasteride in his blood sample, a drug that he had in fact been taking for a number of years and from before the ban was announced. It is clear that the rules need to be strict and they need to be clear with regard to doping tests but the fact that Propecia is banned is affecting a lot of innocent sportsmen who after all were only trying to keep their hair on their heads.

Propecia is estimated to be used by 4 million men worldwide and is effective for male pattern baldness and can therefore help men in their 20’s who start to develop thin patches of hair on their heads. Ukmedix is a great supporter of the drug because it is simply the most tested and researched anti-baldness remedy in the world and is the most statistically effective one too.

If you are suffering from male pattern baldness (or you think you are) you can have an online consultation with an Ukmedix doctor who will determine if Propecia is correct for you or not.

It seems that whenever Propecia is in the news it is not in connection with the fact that it is the most clinically tested and proven drug for hair loss in the world but because it has resulted in a number of sportsmen failing anti-doping tests.

Propecia that is made from a compound called finasteride does not have any performance enhancing capabilities but it can apparently disguise the use of other performance enhancing drugs. This had led to a host of sportsmen being banned from the sports that they play in when in fact it is very unlikely that they used any other banned drugs at all.This policy of banning Propecia has been criticised as some people used the drug before they were aware of the fact that it was banned and also as it poses a dilemma for sportsmen who want to retain their hair.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has recently announced that it will from now on consider that the use of Propecia is not automatically a reason for suspension from all sports band that it will consider accidental and trivial drug use when handing out sentences.

At the same time be warned that this does not mean that sportsmen can get away with using the hair loss drug Propecia but only that the WADA might consider some leniency if it is used. It is probably still advisable for professional sportsmen to stop using the Propecia drug or at least to inform WADA that they are using it and take some proper advice.

This new ruling will be of interest to the American skier Zach Lund who was banned from competing in his sport for a year and also who lost all his commercial sponsorships. It is estimated that about 4 million men use Propecia to stop hair loss caused by hereditary Male Pattern Balding.

The best selling Propecia hair restoration drug made by the pharmaceutical company Merck is now being used by over four million men around the world. It is very popular not only because it is effective in about 90% of men with male pattern balding but also because it is very simple to use. It functions by reducing the build up of DHT in a man’s scalp that is responsible for killing the hair follicles.

Some recent research done on the use of Propecia’s active ingredient finasteride has shown however that the drug can cover up an important indicator that is used in testing for prostate cancer. The Propecia will lower the incidence of a protein that is called prostate specific antigen (PSA) that is used as the first indication of whether you have cancer of the prostate or not. Men who have high PSA readings in their blood stream are often suffering from prostate cancer and will therefore be required to do more tests to check if that is in fact the case.Men using the Propecia will therefore sometimes slip through the PSA testing with artificially low PSA readings that do not give a clear reading and picture of their prostate health.

From the research that was done by Dr A. D’Amico from the Brigham & Women’s Hospital it was recommended that men who are using Propecia and get testing for PSA levels must double their PSA readings so as to be certain that they are not touching the danger zone for prostate cancer. This research should be taken seriously by anyone using Propecia and if they go for a PSA screening they should inform their doctor that they are taking the Propecia drug so that the results can be adjusted accordingly. Cancer of the prostate is a very serious cancer but it can be cured if it is found early in and treated properly. Another drug called Proscar is also made by Merck that contains 5 times the amount of finasteride that a tablet of Propecia has, and it is used by men to reduce an enlarged prostate and to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Propecia is a prescription drug that is only for use in men with male pattern balding and not for other types of hair loss. Propecia is not allowed to be used by women and will not have any visible effect on female hair loss anyway. The makers of Propecia and Proscar financed this important study and the results were announced in the Lancet Oncology journal.