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Dutasteride is a synthetic drug that suppresses 5-alpha-reductase, which converts testosterone to DHT, and is used to treat enlarged prostate and hair loss. Clinical trials are expected to lead to FDA approval for hair loss and prostate cancer. The drug is marketed under various names and is more effective and has fewer side effects than finasteride. Dutasteride Shedding is a normal part of the hair restoration process.
Dutasteride is a synthetic drug used to treat hair loss and enlarged prostate in men. Its mechanism of action is to suppress 5-alpha-reductase (5 ar), the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). While male pattern baldness and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are both caused by this biological event, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only approves dutasteride for the treatment of the latter in the United States. However, the currently ongoing clinical trials are expected to result in the drug becoming officially approved by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss as well, as well as being approved as a prostate cancer drug.
Manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in the UK, dutasteride is primarily known to Americans as Avodart®. However, it is also marketed under a variety of other names, including generic forms of Dutagen and Duprost. Avodart is sold as a soft gel capsule that contains dutasteride as a white or yellowish powder. Since this substance is insoluble in water, it is combined and dissolved in the drug with phenolic compounds, such as butylated hydroxytoluene, as well as the inert ingredients glycerin and gelatin. As a treatment for enlarged prostate or BPH, the drug can also be combined with an alpha blocker, such as tamsulosin.
Dutasteride is considered a dual inhibitor of 5-alpha-reductase because it suppresses both isoforms of the enzyme. This gives the drug an edge over similar drugs, such as finasteride, which only prevents it from being released. As a result of this enhanced activity, dutasteride is more effective at inhibiting DHT synthesis than finasteride-based drugs, otherwise known as Propecia® or Proscar®.
There are also fewer side effects reported with dutasteride than finasteride. Additionally, studies have shown that these side effects are usually temporary and tend to lessen over time. The most commonly encountered side effects in order of highest to lowest frequency include impotence, decreased interest in sex, difficulty ejaculating, and gyno or breast tenderness.
There is another consequence sometimes experienced with taking this drug known as Dutasteride Shedding. It’s actually more of a normal part of the hair restoration process than a side effect. It occurs when the drug stimulates hair follicles to leave a resting state and produce new growth. However, while many hairs that have entered this resting phase are still attached to the follicle, they are not receiving nourishment and are not growing: they are essentially dead. This means that it may take many hairs to fall out at once before new growth can be seen, a process that can take anywhere from six weeks to two months.
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