Finasteride can be taken with or without food.

It is important to take finasteride regularly to get the most benefit.

Your doctor may perform blood tests or other forms of monitoring during treatment with finasteride. One of the tests that may be performed is called PSA (prostate-specific antigen). This test is used to help detect prostate cancer. Finasteride will reduce the amount of PSA measured in the blood. Your doctor is aware of this effect and can still use PSA to help detect prostate cancer.

Stop taking finasteride and seek emergency medical attention if you experience an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives).Other, less serious side effects have been reported but usually resolve with continued treatment. Continue to take finasteride and notify your doctor if you experience

• decreased libido (sex drive);
• decreased volume of ejaculate;
• impotence (trouble getting or keeping an erection); or
• breast tenderness or enlargement.

The authors, who surveyed more than 17,000 men 55 and older for seven years, reported their results in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study found that men given finasteride reported on average more dysfunction than did men given a placebo. That small effect diminished over the seven years.

The results allay concerns about a negative side effect associated with finasteride up till now. Physicians usually warn that sexual dysfunction is a possibility when they discuss the drug with patients. Finasteride is an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, but it is not yet FDA-approved for the prevention or reduction in risk for prostate cancer.

The study’s large sample and long follow-up period allowed researchers to examine whether or not finasteride negatively affected sexual function and, if so, whether this effect was lasting, said Carol Moinpour, Ph.D., of the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle, the study’s lead author. She coordinates quality-of-life studies for the Southwest Oncology Group, the nation’s largest National Cancer Institute-funded clinical trials network.

Developed this drug in 1992 by Merk for the treatment of an enlarged prostate gland Finasteride helped patients grew hair on their head. Soon afterwards, it was released as a prescription medication for hair loss treatment. The main cause of hair loss is DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Finasteride works by stopping the conversion of testosterone to DHT, reducing DHT levels by up to 75%.

The well-known Finasteride product is Propecia. In a study, over 80% of the balding individuals who used it experienced rejuvenated growth, and about 5% commented that their improvement was dramatic.

As well as increasing the number of hairs, Propecia increases the shaft diameter of existing hairs. Most of the improvement, taking Finasteride, will come in the first year of use. Since the main purpose of this drug is to prevent further hair loss, I usually suggest it as a first-line treatment for younger patients, for whom maintaining the hair they have is of prime importance.

The studies mentioned above did show that there are some limited side effects. A very small number (less than 2%) showed erectile dysfunction and decreased libido, although the same complaints were found in about 1% of patients taking placebos. These effects are completely reversible if the drug is discontinued, and over half of patients who continued the drug with these side effects saw them disappear.

Finasteride has been around for over 14 years, and has not shown any long-term side effects.

Women should not use Finasteride. The drug acts on testosterone and will not have any effect on women, even in women with high testosterone levels. It has also been shown to cause defects in the sexual organs of male infants, so it is advised that pregnant females not take, or even handle, this drug. If the male is taking Finasteride, Merck feels confident that the trace amounts found in the semen do not put the fetus at risk. I sometimes hear this concern from patients, and suggest they use condoms during the pregnancy to completely eliminate the risk of Finasteride entering the woman’s bloodstream.

Currently, there is no product on the market that reduces hair loss or re grown hair for everyone that uses it, including those approved by the Food and Drug Administration. While certain benefits have been experienced using Propecia, and loss treatment products, they have not shown great results in all users and are beneficial for Finasteride Hair Loss Treatment.

Effective Measures Regarding Finasteride Hair Loss Treatment:

Medications can often prove to be very effective when it comes to preventing as well as treating hair loss and are especially helpful when a person is in the early stages of balding. The Finasteride Hair Loss Treatments available in the market today including Propecia and Proscar that is instrumental in inhibiting DHT as well as genetic baldness, and that stimulate hair growth and is even more effective when used together with Propecia. Finasteride Hair Loss Treatments is in use since 1992 as a treatment for prostate enlargement in men. Baldness is caused by a number of factors such as heredity, poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle, illness, medications and other conditions such as giving birth. But its use may cause birth defects if taken by pregnant women. That’s why this treatment is recommended only for males.

The last decade has seen many improvements in Finasteride Hair Loss Treatments techniques being developed and in the coming decades there is expected to be even more developments with cloning of hair being a focus in future developments. But the biggest disadvantage is that it is not prescribed for women to use as it can cause very harmful effects. However no such compulsion is there for males to use it or not. Anybody that is suffering from thinning and loss of hair can become stressed about the condition. However, often it could be nothing more than a temporary condition for which a hair loss treatment which includes Propecia and Proscar should readily be available. It is common for hair loss to come about slowly and steadily and it can occur in patches or is diffuse.

How to Decrease DHT by Finasteride Hair Loss Treatment:

With topical lotions and pills for an intensive baldness treatment plan, the company does offer a guarantee on its Finaseride Hair Loss Treatment products, provided specific criteria for the refund is met. Dihydrotestosterone, DHT is believed to be the culprit in causing androgenic alopecia in men and women and the claim is that the active ingredients in Finasteride Hair Loss Treatment products blocks DHT, slowing hair loss and promoting the growth of new hair.

While hair loss is a part of the natural process, only about 90 per cent of a person’s hair is growing at any one time. The remaining 10 per cent is in a resting stage and in about three months falls out, allowing for growth from the same follicles. It is when the resting hair falls out and is not replaced that baldness occurs. Finasteride Hair Loss Treatment fights off the build up of DHT, which is said to prevent the growth of new hair.

Propecia, Generic Propecia, Finasteride Save 20% Take 10% off at 4rx.com as a repeat customer and another 10% using VISA Propecia, is the first and only FDA-approved pill

Propecia (Finasteride)

Male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia is caused by the effects of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on genetically susceptible hair follicles that are present mainly in the front, top, and crown of the scalp (rather than the back and sides). DHT causes hair loss by shortening the growth, or anagen, phase of the hair cycle, causing miniaturization (decreased size) of the follicles. The effected hair becomes progressively shorter and finer until it eventually disappears.

DHT is formed by the action of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase on testosterone. Finasteride is a drug that works by blocking the enzyme 5-alpha reductase Type II that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the hair follicle. Propecia, the brand name for finasteride, is the only FDA approved oral medication for hair loss.

Generic Finasteride
Finasteride 5mg (Proscar) is available in a generic formulation. (Propecia) will not be available generically until the year 2012. For those wanting to take generic finasteride, we recommend buying a pill cutter at the pharmacy and taking � of a 5mg tablet every day. Please be advised that there is no scientific data insuring that this will be as effective as Propecia 1mg a day. Also, remember that there is a potential risk to pregnant women from handling broken or crushed tablets (see Caution during Pregnancy).

Increasing the Dose
We are often asked if one should increase the dose of Propecia. Although we do increase the dose under certain circumstances, there is no scientific evidence that increasing the dose will have any additional effects. There are published data demonstrating that 5 mg is no better than 1 mg from controlled clinical trials. In practice, I often increase the dose when someone has been on the same dose of medication for about three years and then stops responding (begins to lose hair after being stable). When increasing the dose, I generally use generic finasteride 5mg, � pill a day (see Caution during Pregnancy).

Patient Monitoring
It is recommended that men aged 50, or over, should inform their regular physicians or urologists that they are taking Propecia (finasteride 1mg). It is also recommended that all men aged 50 or over have a routine annual evaluation for prostate disease, regardless of whether or not Propecia is used. For those patients who are black and/or who have a family history of prostate disease, these recommendations would apply beginning at age 40. An evaluation may include a rectal examination, a baseline PSA, and other tests that your examining physician feels are appropriate.

The above are general guidelines recommended for all men of appropriate age, regardless of whether they use Finasteride or not. Specific recommendations for each Patient should be based upon the judgment of his own physician.

Propecia - Finasteride online

Finasteride (marketed as Propecia, Proscar and many other names) is an antiandrogen which acts by inhibiting 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. Propecia is the first and only FDA-approved pill demonstrated to treat male pattern hair loss (MPHL) on the vertex (top of head) and anterior mid-scalp area (middle front of head) in men only. Finasteride is used as a treatment in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in low doses, and in prostate cancer in higher doses. It is also indicated for use in combination with doxazosin therapy to reduce the risk for symptomatic progression of BPH.

Propecia (Finasteride) for hair loss

9 of 10 men treated with this medication improved or maintained hair. Based on a photographic assessment by an expert panel of dermatologists following 5 years of clinical studies. Most men see results 3 to 12 months after starting Propecia (Finasteride).

Finasteride’s effects in slowing hair loss and stimulating new hair growth work best for early to moderate degrees of hair loss. Men with extensive hair loss are unlikely to experience much regrowth with finasteride; these men are better candidates for hair transplantation or other surgical approach to hair restoration.

Finasteride is most effective in stimulating hair regrowth over the crown of the scalp. It is less effective in stimulating regrowth at the front of the scalp-where hair loss is commonly called a “receding hairline”. Physician hair restoration specialists may prescribe finasteride to prevent further hair loss by the patient, and carry out hair transplantation to provide coverage at the frontal hairline.

Finasteride: How It Works

Finasteride works at the molecular level to halt hair loss and stimulate new hair growth. It is a medication that selectively inhibits the activity of an enzyme that converts the “male hormone” testosterone into a form that is active in hair follicles.

Androgenic (”male”) hormones such as testosterone have multiple effects in the body, including actions in the skin, hair follicles and prostate gland. Hair follicles and sebaceous (oil-producing) glands in the skin are particularly responsive to androgenic hormones.

Testosterone is the most potent of the androgenic hormones. Its actions on hair follicles, skin and prostate tissue is not direct however; These tissues are responsive to a form of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT); testosterone is converted to DHT by the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. Finasteride acts by inhibiting the action of 5-alpha-reductase and thus inhibiting the conversion of testosterone into DHT.

Hairloss treatments in the 21st century have improved by leaps and bounds, and hair loss patients have a bevy of choices from the numerous government approved and proven effective treatments. But before any treatment can be chosen, it is first necessary to know everything about hair loss.

The medical term for hair loss is alopecia, this is often caused by genes, hormones and stress. In men, such hormones as androgens and testosterones can cause hair follicles to regress and eventually die leading to alopecia. Apart from stress, a traumatic experience or a medical condition can cause baldness. The most effective hairloss treatments that are currently offered are finasteride and dutasteride. The topical medicine minoxidil, whose most popular brand is Rogaine, is likewise effective to a certain extent and can also be used as a preventive treatment. Rogaine and other like brands can stop of even reverse baldness in most people.

Perhaps one of the greatest fears of men is hairloss. A man’s hair defines his self-image and he is willing to undergo all sorts of treatment and medication to prevent the onset of hairloss or treat baldness. Male hair loss treatments can be anywhere from a topical solution to transplantation and often, people who losing their are willing to pay the price just to have it grown back.

Male hair loss often responds to minoxidil and finasteride. Rogaine is the most popular brand of minoxidil and in 1996, the medicine was approved for over-the-counter sale worldwide. As male pattern baldness occurs, hairs in the affected area become shorter and finer and are less pigmented with successive growth cycles. This type of baldness is also known as androgenic alopecia and is associated with the presence of dihydroxytesterone, which is a metabolite of testosterone. Finasteride is a competitive inhibitor of type II 5alpha-reductase that can lower dihydroxytesterone levels, preventing baldness.

The pathologic causes of alopecia are often evaluated when treating baldness in men. The patient’s medical history plays an important role in diagnosing the condition. The key elements considered include family history, medications, underlying medical illness, stress factors and the patterns and speed of hair loss. Male pattern baldness is characterized by an M pattern, while patchy alopecia is usually associated with conditions such as tinea capitits, lupus erythematosus and immune-mediated alopecia areata. Telogen effluvium is alopecia that occurs after a stressful event.

As of now, there are no studies that compare the effectiveness of minoxidil and finasteride. Some medical researchers have claimed, though, that minoxidil at two percent topical solution could grow hair in about 50 percent of patients. The medicine appeared to be ineffective for frontal baldness and effective in preventing hair thinning and loss. Studies on the effectiveness of finasteride on the other hand revealed that its greatest benefit may be in preventing further hair loss in men at the early stages of baldness.

Both minoxidil and finasteride have proven to be well tolerated by patients. The reported side effect of minoxidil is pruritis of the scalp, while finasteride revealed sexual side effects such as decreased libido and erectile dysfuction. Finasteride is not recommended to be used in women and children. When counseling patients, physicians should stress that effectiveness have been primarily demonstrated in younger men.

Finasteride was initially marketed to treat prostate conditions under the name Proscar in 5mg pills. It was known to inhibit the formation of DHT, a major contributor to both prostate cancer and male pattern hair loss.

Subsequent research showed that a 1mg daily dose of the same drug was sufficient to control hair loss for 83% of men after two years of treatment. Since 1998 this version has been marketed under the brand name Propecia and it remains the only prescription drug approved by the FDA specifically to treat hair loss. This approval extends only to men’s hair loss because of the dangers finasteride presents to unborn male fetuses. Women of child bearing age should therefore consult with their physician before considering the use of this drug.

The main purpose of Propecia is to halt hair loss and maintain what hair coverage is left. It is therefore popular with younger men who want to control hair loss at an early stage. Men of all ages use it in combination with minoxidil to achieve a hair loss strategy that both halts hair loss and encourages new growth.

Propecia works by interfering with the process of androgenetic hair loss which usually follows this process:

• High levels of an enzyme known as 5-alpha-reductase occur in cells of the hair follicle.

• This enzyme converts testosterone into DHT.

• DHT causes miniaturization of robust terminal hairs.

• This results in fine, soft vellus hairs that provide limited scalp coverage.

Propecia inhibits the formation of DHT and over a period of several months reduces levels of DHT sufficiently to minimize its effects on the hair follicle.

As with any drug, finasteride can cause side effects to a minority of users. The FDA trials reported a 2% incidence of varying side effects but these tended to lessen as the body adjusted to the drug over a period of months. Although Propecia or cheaper generic versions are easily obtained on the internet it is strongly recommended that you seek the advice of your doctor, at least in the first instance.

When This Medicine Should Not Be taken:
You should not use this medicine if you have had an allergic reaction to finasteride. Women and children should not take finasteride. Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should avoid handling crushed or broken finasteride tablets.

How to Use This Medicine:
Tablet Finasteride

* Your doctor will tell you how much of this medicine to take and how often. Do not take more medicine or take it more often than your doctor tells you to.
* You may take this medicine with or without food.
* For hair loss, you may need to take this medicine for 3 months or longer before you notice improvement.

If a dose is missed:

*
o If you miss a dose or forget to take your medicine, skip the missed dose and take your next regular dose.

o Do not use extra medicine to make up for a missed dose.

How to Store and Dispose of This Medicine:

o Store the medicine at room temperature in a closed container, away from heat, moisture, and direct light.

o Keep all medicine out of the reach of children and never share your medicine with anyone
o

Please read this leaflet before you start taking PROSCAR. Also, read it each time you renew your

prescription, just in case anything has changed. Remember, this leaflet does not take the place of careful

discussions with your doctor. You and your doctor should discuss PROSCAR when you start taking your

medication and at regular checkups.

Why your doctor has prescribed PROSCAR

Your doctor has prescribed PROSCAR because you have a medical condition called benign prostatic

hyperplasia or BPH. This occurs only in men.

What is BPH?

BPH is an enlargement of the prostate gland. After age 50, most men develop enlarged prostates. The

prostate is located below the bladder. As the prostate enlarges, it may slowly restrict the flow of urine.

This can lead to symptoms such as:

• a weak or interrupted urinary stream

• a feeling that you cannot empty your bladder completely

• a feeling of delay or hesitation when you start to urinate

• a need to urinate often, especially at night

• a feeling that you must urinate right away.

In some men, BPH can lead to serious problems, including urinary tract infections, a sudden inability to

pass urine (acute urinary retention), as well as the need for surgery.

*
o

• Finasteride is the first oral therapy indicated for the treatment of male pattern hair loss in MEN ONLY. Safety and efficacy were demonstrated in men, aged 18 to 41, with mild to moderate hair loss of the vertex and anterior mid-scalp area. Efficacy in bitemporal recession has not been established.
• Finasteride is not indicated in women or children.
• Women should not handle crushed or broken Finasteride propecia tablets when they are pregnant or may potentially be pregnant because of the possibility of absorption of finasteride and the subsequent potential risk to a male fetus. PROPECIA tablets are coated and will prevent contact with the active ingredient during normal handling, provided that the tablets have not been broken or crushed.
• In a study of postmenopausal women with androgenetic alopecia, the effectiveness of PROPECIA could not be demonstrated.
• In clinical studies of 1 year for PROPECIA, each drug-related sexual adverse event occurred in less than 7% of men. Discontinuation due to drug-related sexual adverse experiences was 1.2% in the group treated with PROPECIA and 0.9% in the placebo-treated group. Reported drug-related sexual adverse experiences included decreased libido (1.8% vs 1.3%, placebo), erectile dysfunction (1.3% vs 0.7%, placebo), and ejaculation disorders (1.2% vs 0.7%, placebo), primarily decreased volume of ejaculate (0.8% vs 0.4%, placebo). Resolution occurred in the 1-year studies in men who discontinued therapy with PROPECIA due to these sexual Read the rest of this entry »

Product Name : Fincar (Generic Finasteride)
Product Type : finasteride 5 mg

Barr Laboratories, Inc ,a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced that it has launched a generic version of Merck’s Proscar (finasteride). The company launched after receiving final approval from the FDA.

Finasteride is indicated for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with enlarged prostates to improve symptoms and reduce the need for surgical procedures including transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and prostatectomy.

Analysis:
Proscar (generic finasteride 5 mg) is a popular prescribing option by physicians for symptoms associated with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The release of a generic version of the drug will allow more men access to it due to the lower price. Generic Finasteride

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Hands down the most clinically proven product on the market today for hair loss in Men. This product is not for use in women.Generic Finasteride contains the same ingredients found in the brand name Propecia, but produced internationally (they DO need medications outside the USA you know!). Though we do not carry, nor distribute Generic Finasteride, our long term members have suggested the following online resource.