Risk of Depression After 5 Alpha Reductase Inhibitor Medication: Meta-Analysis

May 2019 in “ The World Journal of Men's Health ”

Jae Heon Kim, Sung Ryul Shim, Yash S. Khandwala, Francesco Del Giudice, Simon Grund Sørensen, Benjamin I. Chung

5 alpha reductase inhibitor 5ARI hair loss prostate enlargement depression

TLDR Taking 5 alpha reductase inhibitor medication slightly increases the risk of depression, especially as you get older.

In 2020, a meta-analysis involving 425,357 participants was conducted to examine the link between 5 alpha reductase inhibitor (5ARI) medication, used for hair loss and prostate enlargement, and depression. The results showed that users of 5ARI medications had a higher risk of developing depression. However, the overall hazard ratio (HR) for depression after 5-ARI medication was 1.23 and the overall odds ratio (OR) was 1.19, which were not statistically significant. The risk of depression was found to increase with age. The study concluded that while the risk of depression was not significantly high, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited number of studies included.

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Risk of Depression After 5 Alpha Reductase Inhibitor Medication: Meta-Analysis

Research cited in this study

research Association of Suicidality and Depression With 5α-Reductase Inhibitors

research Persistent Sexual, Emotional, and Cognitive Impairment Post-Finasteride

research Central 5-Alpha Reduction of Testosterone Is Required for Testosterone's Inhibition of the Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response to Restraint Stress in Adult Male Rats

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