Alot more than the 2% that Merck claims

[Atomic]

Men Report Sexual Impairment After Using Common Hair Loss Drug

 

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By Catherine Donaldson-Evans Mar 18th 2011 4:00PM

Categories: News

Men who have taken a popular pill for baldness say they've experienced persistent sexual dysfunction for months, or even years, after stopping the drug.

 

The new study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found that men who take finasteride, sold under the brand names Propecia and Proscar, may develop an ongoing loss of libido and orgasm, even after they go off the medication.

 

In some cases, they could have other lasting sexual side effects, including premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction, according to lead researcher Dr. Michael Irwig of George Washington University's medical school.

 

"It's obviously having some effect on the brain," Irwig told AOL Health. "It's messing up different hormonal pathways. Some of these pathways are important for things like libido and sexual function."

 

Finasteride, the most common hair-loss pill, has previously been linked to "reversible" sexual impairment, as noted on the drug's label, said Irwig. But "this is the first series to find that symptoms persisted for at least three months despite stopping finasteride," he added.

 

"Three months was the minimum, but some of these guys had sexual symptoms for years, some ... for five to 10 years after," he told AOL Health. "These were young guys with no medical problems, no psychiatric problems, who happened to develop these side effects."

 

Irwig and his team interviewed 71 men aged 21 to 46 who had taken Propecia or Proscar and reported new sexual side effects after they started the drugs. None of the participants had a history of sexual dysfunction or other conditions that might have contributed, Irwig said -- and some had only been on finasteride for a few days.

Edited March 20, 2011 by TakingThePlunge

[RCWest]

If it is still causing sexual dysfunction after stopping use, that must mean DHT is STILL lower than when the drug was started.

[Tao]

The following appeared on CBS News site today. I never took Propecia as I lost most of my hair up top before going the HT route. I always thought messing with strong hormones, etc., in the body was playing with fire. But then again, I totally understand why one would take Propecia. So many have with no issues. Tough call.

 

Baldness drug Propecia making men impotent, says study

 

 

CBS) Men worried about losing their hair may be losing far more than that if they take the popular drug Propecia.

 

A new body of research says 5 to 23 percent of the millions of men who take the drug may become impotent and have lowered sex drives because of the active ingredient finasteride. And the problem may linger years after they stop taking the drug.

 

The story is coming to the fore as two new studies were published in "The Journal of Sexual Medicine" this month.

 

Young men are being prescribed these drugs, "as hair loss treatments that may negatively impact their sexual life, possibly for a prolonged time after stopping the medication," said the journal's editor-in-chief, Dr. Irwin Goldstein, in a statement.

 

 

In one paper which analyzed previous studies, researchers led by Dr. Abdulmaged M. Traish of the Boston University School of Medicine, found a small but significant percent of men suffered from erectile dysfunction, reduced ejaculation and semen volume after taking the drug. Traish told CBS News what really worried him was the long term effects.

 

"What is really important is not how big or small this number is," he said. "But rather how many of these individuals will continue to experience persistent side effects, even if they discontinue the drug?"

 

To answer that question, Traish pointed us towards research from Dr. Michael S. Irwig, who interviewed 71 otherwise healthy men who reported sexual side effects after taking finasteride. The mean duration of the negative impact was 40 months after stopping the drug.

 

 

Irwig's study, also published in "The Journal of Sexual Medicine," had some caveats. The men were not randomly selected, but rather picked off of a popular website for problems with finasteride and the men were not tested for hormone levels.

 

 

Finasteride is also found in Proscar, a drug designed to help with prostate swelling.

 

The cruel irony of the findings, if they hold up, is that once men stop taking Propecia their hair loss returns, but the side effects may linger for years.

 

There is a class action lawsuit in Canada and a smaller suit in the States. The full studies can be found in the March issue of"The Journal of Sexual Medicine" here and here.