Hair loss and balding in older men

By the age of 50 years, at least 50% of men and 25% of women will have lost cosmetically significant amounts of hair due to the aging process. This hair loss occurs from puberty onwards and increases in prevalence until, at 80 years of age, it affects 80% of men. Male Pattern Baldness is, therefore, the most common cause of Hair loss. It can cause significant psychosocial impact, usually in circumstances where it is deemed an inappropriate appearance in terms of cultural norms for age and gender. The good news for sufferers is that hairloss treatments, such as Propecia, that produce a good degree of benefit are now available.

Systemic treatment in men: When systemic treatment is a justifiable option, for men the best option it to try finasteride commonly known as Propecia. This is an inhibitor of type II 5-alpha-redctase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to the more active dihydrotestosterone in the scalp. Several two-year placebo-controlled trials of both the vertex (KD, OEA, W D et al. Propecia in the treatment of men with Male Pattern Baldness) and frontal thinning (LJ, DF, MB et al. Buy Propecia in the treatment of men with frontal male pattern hair loss) have shown it to cause hair growth. Propecia 1mg daily was shown to stop further hair loss in 83% of men with thinning of the vertex (as assessed by hair counts). When assessed by comparison of photographs, hair regrowth with Propecia was superior to placebo in 59% of men. Results in the group with mainly frontal thinning wee not as good but patient satisfaction was higher, indicating the higher cosmetic importance of frontal recession. The effects were seen to continue to five years (The Propecia Male Pattern Hair Loss Study Group. Long-term 5 year multinational experience with propecia 1mg in the treatment on men with Male Pattern Baldness), with any individual ceasing drug therapy reverting to progressive hair loss.
Propecia is well tolerated with few adverse effects. The most common side-effect is ‘reduced sexual function’ (such as Impotence or Erectile Dysfunction" ), which occurred in the larger study at a rate of 4.2% in the treated group and at 2.2% in the placebo group. These effects settled on cessation of drug therapy and occassionaly while continuing propecia. Propecia can now be obtained from an online doctor such as Anytime Doctor at a cost of less than 2 pounds per month.