12 Common medicines treatment hair loss in women - 1
1. Minoxidil (Rogaine) for female
Minoxidil has a hair growth promoting effect on pattern baldness affected hair follicles.
Minoxidil was originally introduced in the early 1970s as a treatment for hypertension. Minoxidil is in the class of treatments called "Potassium Channel Openers" that are used primarily for treating persons with high blood pressure. Although several potassium-channel openers have been used in research for many years, Minoxidil is the only approved one in this category of drugs for use in humans.
Hypertrichosis or undesirable hair growth was seen as a side effect of the medication. This led to the development of a topical formulation of Minoxidil for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in men and subsequently in women. Now Minoxidil is available in two forms to treat different conditions. Oral Minoxidil is used to treat high blood pressure and the topical solution form is used to treat hair loss and baldness.
2% topical Minoxidil was first marketed for hair re-growth in men in 1986 in the United States and the 5% product became available in 1993. More about Minoxidil to treatment women hair loss
2. Finasteride (Propecia) for female
Finasteride (Propecia) is used by some dermatologists in Europe to treat female pattern hair loss.
Female pattern hair loss is a common condition characterized by a diffuse reduction in hair density over the crown and frontal scalp with retention of the frontal hairline in affected women. The prevalence of this type of hair loss increases with advancing age. Women who are affected often report feelings of embarrassment and social anxiety and the condition often worsens if left untreated.
The underlying principle behind the use of Finasteride in male pattern hair loss is the reduction of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) production; thus limiting the action of DHT on scalp hair follicles. In the female sex, the use of Finasteride and other 5 alpha - reductase inhibitors has shown utility in women with hirsutism. In theory, if all female pattern hair loss were an androgen-dependent process like male pattern baldness, then Finasteride should have comparable efficacy in women with patterned hair loss.
Although female pattern hair loss has been widely thought to be the female counterpart of male balding and is often referred to as female androgenetic alopecia, the role of androgens in baldness in women is not fully established. Similarly the efficacy of Finasteride in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in women has remained controversial.
Side effects and precautions
Finasteride is a teratogen, i.e. it can cause malformation of the fetus. In animal studies, male rats exposed to Finasteride in utero develop hypospadias (a developmental anomaly of the urethra) with cleft prepuce, decreased anogenital distance, reduced prostate weight and altered nipple formation.
Officially, women of potential childbearing age should not take Finasteride or even handle crushed or broken tablets. The risk of teratogenicity in humans has not been evaluated but Finasteride may cause hypospadias in the developing male fetus. Exposure to semen of men who are taking Finasteride does not pose a real risk to the pregnant woman's male fetus. Finasteride tablets are coated to prevent contact with the active ingredients during manipulation.
In studies conducted with women premenopause, the finasteride was always provded to the women along with birth control pills. The use of birth control to ensure pregnancy did not occur while using finasteride was a must given the potential effects finasteride can have on male embryos.
Conclusion
As stated earlier, Finasteride has not been proven to be effective in postmenopausal women, and at the moment it is FDA approved only for use in men. It is neither approved nor currently intended for use in women who are or may become pregnant. Despite this, dermatologists in Europe are using finasteride to treat female androgenetic alopecia. In the absence of any good clinical trials it is difficult to say how effective it is for women with female pattern hair loss.
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