Using Propecia Finasteride online as a Hair Loss Treatment

Finasteride (brand name Propecia®) is an orally administered
medication for male pattern hair loss (MPHL). It is the only specific
MPHL treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for
prescription by a physician. Several years of investigation and use by
more than a million patients show that finasteride has long-term
effectiveness and safety in treating MPHL in men of all ages and all
ethnic backgrounds. Finasteride is sometimes used alone or in
combination with minoxidil (see Using Minoxidil (Rogaine) ) to complement hair transplantation. Finasteride is not recommended for use in women.

Finasteride’s effects in slowing hair loss and stimulating new hair
growth work best for early to moderate degrees of hair loss. Men with
extensive hair loss are unlikely to experience much regrowth with
finasteride; these men are better candidates for hair transplantation
or other surgical approach to hair restoration.

Finasteride is most effective in stimulating hair regrowth over the
crown of the scalp. It is less effective in stimulating regrowth at the
front of the scalp-where hair loss is commonly called a “receding
hairline”. Physician hair restoration specialists may prescribe
finasteride to prevent further hair loss by the patient, and carry out
hair transplantation to provide coverage at the frontal hairline.

Finasteride: How It Works

Finasteride works at the molecular level to halt hair loss and
stimulate new hair growth. It is a medication that selectively inhibits
the activity of an enzyme that converts the “male hormone” testosterone
into a form that is active in hair follicles.

Androgenic (”male”) hormones such as testosterone have multiple
effects in the body, including actions in the skin, hair follicles and
prostate gland. Hair follicles and sebaceous (oil-producing) glands in
the skin are particularly responsive to androgenic hormones.

Testosterone is the most potent of the androgenic hormones. Its
actions on hair follicles, skin and prostate tissue is not direct
however; These tissues are responsive to a form of testosterone called
dihydrotestosterone (DHT); testosterone is converted to DHT by the
enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. Finasteride acts by inhibiting the action of
5-alpha-reductase and thus inhibiting the conversion of testosterone
into DHT.

Investigators over a number of years found that 5-alpha-reductase
occurs in two forms identified as Type I and Type II, and that
finasteride is effective in inhibition of Type II. Type I of the enzyme
predominates in sebaceous glands. Type II occurs most abundantly in
hair follicles and prostate tissue. Investigators found that:

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