14 DAY TRIAL // A drug used to treat male baldness can also help women who have a problem with thinning hair. Italian researchers looked at 37 women who suffered from hair loss and gave them 2.5 milligrams of finasteride and the contraceptive pill. Pictures of the women's heads were taken and the hair density was determined with the help of a procedure called computerized light videodermoscopy.
The drug finasteride (Propecia or Proscar), administered with an oral contraceptive to prevent pregnancy, since it was linked to birth defects, resulted in the improvement in hair loss in 62% of women, namely 23 patients. Even if 13 patients experienced no changes after the experiments, none felt their condition was getting worse.
The study can be considered a basis for further studies on the use of finasteride in the treatment of female baldness. Women are generally embarrassed when confronted with the problems of losing their hair, caused by hormonal changes or stopping the treatment with contraceptives. Eventually, one out of every two women will face hair loss in their lives. Minoxidil is common used to treat this condition.
The lotion which has to be applied on the scalp causes allergies for many women. In the current study, finasteride was used, a substance normally administered to male patients. The latter substance blocks the conversion of the male hormone testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, which, in high levels, can lead to baldness.
Further research will be conducted, especially for post-menopausal women, where there is no need for contraceptives, and for studying the link between the pill and female pregnancy.