All About Propecia

Some welcome research for the Propecia hair loss drug shows that doctors and patients really do not need to worry about its sexual side effects.  In the study done by the South West Oncology Group in the United States over 17,000 men of the age of 55 and older were tracked for seven years and the number of men reporting erectile dysfunction was very small. Interestingly also the men reported that over the seven year period if they did suffer from some degree of erectile dysfunction it tended to diminish over time meaning that the body got used to the Propecia drug and learn to deal with it.

The chances of suffering from erectile dysfunction when using the Propecia drug are also far less likely if you have good sexual function anyway. This means that younger men who are fit and healthy are likely to be fine. The research that was published in the National Cancer Institute Journal did however note that the men who were given Propecia did report slightly more erectile dysfunction than the men who were given a placebo pill.

The importance of this study is that it confirms that the effects of using the Propecia drug over a long period does not actually worsen erectile dysfunction and cause any permanent impotence. In all cases when men stopped using the Propecia hair loss drug the erectile dysfunction disappeared. The fact that Propecia side effect of erectile dysfunction in some men occurs is probably the biggest reason why men are afraid to try the drug. If given a choice between having hair and having good erectile function obviously most men would choose the latter. What this new study says is that in the vast majority of cases (well over 99 percent) there is really nothing to worry about.

The other interesting finding that came about from this research is that the men who regularly took the Propecia hair loss drug showed a reduction in the likelihood of getting cancer of the prostrate by nearly 25 percent. Originally the finasteride drug which is the active ingredient in Propecia was developed to help men who suffered from prostate problems.  It was only when some of the men using it reported that their hair was growing back that it was realised that this drug could have alternative uses.

Today over 4 million men all over the world use Propecia to stop themselves going bald and it is probably the most effective and successful hair loss drug in history.

On the whole men take far less trouble looking after themselves than women do and that is why many hair loss lotions and potions are perceived by men as a big hassle and they can’t be bothered to use them to stop their hair loss. Minoxidil which is a hair loss lotion that has to be applied to the scalp twice or even three times a day is not nearly as popular as the hair loss drug Propecia. Many men say that they stopped using the Minoxidil hair loss lotion because they just could not be bothered to apply it every day, and that very often they forgot to do it anyway.

Propecia which comes in the form of a tiny tablet to be taken just once a day is extremely popular with men as they can just pop it into their mouths every morning before brushing their teeth. It is the simplicity of Propecia which is the reason why over 4 million men are using this very effective hair loss drug and why the sales of it continued to increase. An even more complicated hair loss solution is a wig and the hassles involved in making sure that you keep your hair on your head everyday are just too much for the majority of men. The same goes for hair transplant surgery which involves complicated surgery.

There is a bit of a stigma about men who have hair loss surgery and they are often perceived as being overly concerned about their appearance which somehow makes them less of a man. This perception is why many men like to use the hair loss drug Propecia because nobody will know that they are using it and it is a very simple solution that requires very little time everyday.

Now that so many more men are using the hair loss drug Propecia some of them are not embarrassed to talk about it. In fact many doctors report that patients come to see them specifically requesting the drug because a friend had recommended it to them.

The good news concerning the hair loss drug Propecia or finasteride to give it its scientific clinical name is that a recent research project done with the drug has shown that the detrimental effect that it has on sexual function in men is ‘minimal’. One of the most common reasons cited by men who do not want to try the Propecia hair loss drug is they believe that it may have a negative effect on their erectile function and thus they stay away from it.

The new study that was carried out by Dr Carol Moinpour working at the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Centre which is based in Seattle looked at over 17,000 men who took part in a study called the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial over a 7 year period. The finasteride drug is also used to help men who suffer from enlarged prostrate glands and is used as a treatment to prevent cancer of the prostrate forming. The drug Propecia for hair loss and the drug Proscar for prostrate problems are in fact exactly the same but come in different doses.

The results of the study showed that the finasteride drug only very slightly decreased sexual function in some men and interestingly the researchers noted that over time the body actually acclimatised to the finasteride and thus its detrimental effect on sexual function was lessened. The report authors said that the effect of Propecia or finasteride on sexual function was clinically much less significant than many other natural factors that could also cause erectile dysfunction.

Men should also be aware that should they find themselves in the tiny proportion [less than 1%] of men who say that they have reported a reduction in erectile function they only need to stop taking the medication for their erectile function to go back to normal. You should also remember that over 4 million men around the globe are using Propecia for hair loss today and the number is likely to grow as it is by far the most effective hair loss drug on the market.