I'm losing hair, but I don't want to go with these meds. I know guys that get surgery and it looks good, but its not cheap.
Finasteride has been linked to depression and suicide for more than 20 years, professor warns Propecia and Proscar
Millions of men undergoing hair loss treatment may be putting their mental health on the line.
Finasteride, a hair-loss drug prescribed for androgenetic alopecia, the most common form of baldness, has been linked to a higher risk of suicide in global studies.
A recent review by Mayer Brezis, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which was published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, argues that there is now enough evidence to mark depression, anxiety and suicidality as genuine risks of the drug.
Finasteride has been linked to depression and suicide for more than 20 years, Brezis revealed, calling attention to the lack of action from manufacturers and regulators.
These concerns were raised in several studies as early as 2002. Four independent analyses and four studies indicating a "significant increase" in depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior were released between 2017 and 2023.
"There has been, therefore, a two-decade delay in the realization of the incidences and the gravity of neuropsychiatric effects, allowing harm from a medicine prescribed for a cosmetic indication of hair loss," the author wrote in the study.
"Over 20 years worldwide, hundreds of thousands may have endured depression, and hundreds may have died by suicide."
Finasteride users have reported ongoing symptoms even after the drug is stopped, including insomnia, panic attacks, cognitive dysfunction and suicidal thoughts.
In a Hebrew University of Jerusalem press release, Brezis reiterated that the evidence of this connection is "no longer anecdotal."
"We now see consistent patterns across diverse populations. And the consequences may have been tragic," he said.
"The lesson is that before approving a medication for the market, regulators should require manufacturers to commit to performing and disclosing ongoing post-approval analytical studies, and this requirement needs to be enforced," Brezis concluded in the review.
In 2011, the FDA reportedly acknowledged depression as a potential side effect of finasteride, adding suicidality in 2022.
The agency recorded 18 suicides linked to finasteride in 2011, although Brezis argued that the number should have "ranged in the thousands."
In an additional statement sent to Fox News Digital, Brezis confirmed that physicians frequently prescribe finasteride "offhandedly because they are not aware of its risks."
www.foxnews.com
Finasteride has been linked to depression and suicide for more than 20 years, professor warns Propecia and Proscar
Millions of men undergoing hair loss treatment may be putting their mental health on the line.
Finasteride, a hair-loss drug prescribed for androgenetic alopecia, the most common form of baldness, has been linked to a higher risk of suicide in global studies.
A recent review by Mayer Brezis, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which was published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, argues that there is now enough evidence to mark depression, anxiety and suicidality as genuine risks of the drug.
Finasteride has been linked to depression and suicide for more than 20 years, Brezis revealed, calling attention to the lack of action from manufacturers and regulators.
These concerns were raised in several studies as early as 2002. Four independent analyses and four studies indicating a "significant increase" in depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior were released between 2017 and 2023.
"There has been, therefore, a two-decade delay in the realization of the incidences and the gravity of neuropsychiatric effects, allowing harm from a medicine prescribed for a cosmetic indication of hair loss," the author wrote in the study.
"Over 20 years worldwide, hundreds of thousands may have endured depression, and hundreds may have died by suicide."
Finasteride users have reported ongoing symptoms even after the drug is stopped, including insomnia, panic attacks, cognitive dysfunction and suicidal thoughts.
In a Hebrew University of Jerusalem press release, Brezis reiterated that the evidence of this connection is "no longer anecdotal."
"We now see consistent patterns across diverse populations. And the consequences may have been tragic," he said.
"The lesson is that before approving a medication for the market, regulators should require manufacturers to commit to performing and disclosing ongoing post-approval analytical studies, and this requirement needs to be enforced," Brezis concluded in the review.
In 2011, the FDA reportedly acknowledged depression as a potential side effect of finasteride, adding suicidality in 2022.
The agency recorded 18 suicides linked to finasteride in 2011, although Brezis argued that the number should have "ranged in the thousands."
In an additional statement sent to Fox News Digital, Brezis confirmed that physicians frequently prescribe finasteride "offhandedly because they are not aware of its risks."
Hair-loss drug tied to suicides, depression and anxiety in global study
A Hebrew University researcher calls for finasteride removal from the market after finding that many may have died by suicide from the hair-loss medication's side effects.
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