What is Finasteride, why is it used for hair loss and what does it have in common with 'Post It Notes'?

Finasteride is a medicine known as a 5-alpha 2 Reductase blocker and was originally developed to combat the effects of an enlarged prostate. Prostate enlargement is caused by the effect of an androgen in men known as Dihydrotestosterone or DHT for short.  Testosterone is converted into DHT and it is DHT that causes the enlargement of the prostate. By blocking DHT  using Finasteride an effective treatment for an enlarged prostate was discovered and given the brand name Proscar. Click here to buy low price branded Proscar Online.

'Post It Notes' and hair loss? Many things have been discovered in the past by accident such as 'Post It Notes' which are made with a glue that was meant to be permanent. Similarly Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) was studied being studied for the treatment of Hypertension when it was discovered it had other notable side effects.

Scientists who were conducting clinical trials of Finasteride with men for treatment of enlarged prostate noticed that many of the participants started to re-grow hair and by accident it was discovered as a hair loss treatment. DHT causes hair loss by miniaturizing hair follicles in the scalp. The hair follicles in the scalp keep miniaturizing until the follicle disappears. Once the hair follicle has disappeared treatment with Finasteride is no longer an option and because of this reason treatment with with the medicine for hair loss should start sooner rather than later.

Finasteride interrupts the action of DHT on the hair follicle and brings a halt to the miniaturizing effect allowing the hair follicle to recover.

The famous hair loss treatment  Propecia is the brand name for the generic drug Finasteride and is exactly the same except for price with the generic equivalent being much cheaper - see price comparison table below.