TLDR New drug dutasteride effectively treats hair loss, but use cautiously due to potential sexual side effects.
The article discusses a new era of 5α-reductase inhibitors for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Oral finasteride and topical minoxidil have been used as therapeutic drugs for AGA, but a new oral drug dutasteride has been reported to be efficient for AGA in a large-scale randomized controlled trial. Dutasteride suppresses both type I and II 5α-reductases while finasteride significantly suppresses only type II. Therefore, dutasteride is referred to as a “dual inhibitor”. In the randomized controlled trial, dutasteride significantly increased hair count and width and hair photographic assessment compared with finasteride. However, it is still controversial whether there is a significant difference in clinical efficiency by dutasteride and finasteride. The recent Korean study pointed out that sexual dysfunction occurred in 17.1% AGA patients treated with dutasteride while it was transient. Therefore, if dutasteride becomes available for AGA in the future, it is important to use it carefully, especially for sexual side effects.
36 citations,
June 2014 in “International Journal of Dermatology” Dutasteride helps hair growth in those unresponsive to finasteride, but may cause more sexual dysfunction.
97 citations,
January 2014 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Dutasteride 0.5 mg works better than finasteride and placebo for increasing hair in men with hair loss.
66 citations,
June 2013 in “Journal of Dermatological Treatment” Finasteride and dutasteride effectively treat hair loss, but may cause side effects like sexual dysfunction and depression.
38 citations,
December 2011 in “Journal of Dermatology” Use minoxidil for hair loss treatment, and finasteride for men.
37 citations,
April 2019 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Some treatments like intralesional steroids and 5α-reductase inhibitors are effective for frontal fibrosing alopecia, but more research is needed.
29 citations,
September 2014 in “Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity” Finasteride and dutasteride effectively treat hair loss in men and women, but may cause side effects like low libido and depression.
2 citations,
January 2023 in “Pharmaceuticals” Natural products and phytochemicals may help with hair regrowth, but more research is needed.
March 2021 in “Uludağ Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi dergisi” The review provided information on various treatments to stop hair thinning and increase hair density in people with common genetic hair loss.
June 2023 in “Drugs & Therapy Perspectives” New treatments for male pattern hair loss look promising, but established treatments are still the main option.
