Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Happy Days are Hair Again with Dutasteride


Hair loss is a very difficult ordeal for most men to face. Some take it hard and some resign to the thought ‘hair today gone tomorrow’.  But now with Dusteride all your hair can come back to you again.

Dutasteride or Avodart (brand name) is an enzyme inhibiting drug.  Dutasteride blocks the action of 5-alpha-reductase enzymes which act as a catalyst to convert testosterone into dihydrotestosterone or DHT.  Finasteride, or Propecia (brand name) is also in the same class of drugs and inhibits the 5-alpha-reductase enzymes, but where as finestride inhibits only type I isoform of the enzyme Dutasteride inhibits both type I and type II isoform of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme.

Hair Again with Dutasteride

Dutasteride is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).  It is also prescribed for the Male Pattern Baldness in men. Some clinical results have indicated that dutasteride at both 0.5 mg and 2.5 mg/day produced a superior hair count and better hair quality as compared to finasteride 5 mg at weeks 12 and 24.

Male Pattern Baldness and Dutasteride

Male pattern baldness is the predominant type of hair loss in men and accounts for 95% of all male hair loss.  It advances in a predictable progression starting with the receding hair line and thinning of hair at the crown and ending up with a fringe of hair around the back of the head.

It has been found that among other genetic and aging factors one thing that is most common in men with Male Pattern Baldness is an excess of DHT dihydrotestosterone found in the hair follicles. DHT dihydrotestosterone is a much stronger form of testosterone.  This dihydrotestosterone affects the structure and functioning of the hair follicle, reducing it in size so much so that it cannot support a healthy hair, causing gradual and permanaent hair loss known as Androgenic Alopecia or Male Pattern Baldness.  The production of dihydrotestosterone is made possible with 5-alpha-reductase enzymes.  Dutasteride on inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase enzymes stops the production of dihydrotestosterone thus eliminating the root cause of Male Pattern Baldness.  Dutasteride not only stops hair loss it even promotes re-growth! By protecting the hair follicle from dihydrotestoterone Dutateride promotes healthy recovery of the hair follicle thus enabling it to support a healthy visible hair.

As yet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved Dutasteride for Male Pattern Baldness. However, GlaxoSmithKline the manufacturers of Dutasteride has completed Phase 2 trials for its use in treating hair loss.

It should be noted that Dutasteride is not recommended for women or children.  Pregnant women or women who could get pregnant should not handle this drug as it can cause fetal deformities in the male fetus.

Dutasteride is a prescription drug and should be prescribed by your doctor.




photo credit: Alex E. Proimos via photopin cc

No comments:

Post a Comment