Dutasteride is a so-called second generation dihydrotestosterone (DHT) inhibitor produced by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. Like Finasteride (Propecia), it was developed to treat the enlargement of the prostate gland in men known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). As was the case during Merck's Finasteride testing back in the 1990s, Dutasteride's beneficial effects on hair loss became apparent during GlaxoSmithKline's clinical trials of the drug as a treatment for BPH. Dutasteride was granted FDA approval as a drug to treat BPH and appeared on the market in 2003 branded as Avodart. For the purposes of treating BPH, the recommended dose is a 0.5 mg soft gel capsule once daily. It is important to note that at this stage, Dutasteride has not been approved by the FDA for the purposes of treating hair loss. If this ever occurs, like Finasteride it will only be approved for use by men.
In a repeat of the history of Finasteride's development as a hair loss drug, GlaxoSmithKline set about conducting trials into the use of Dutasteride, their own DHT inhibitor, for the same purposes. However, the company shelved their plans for a drug to rival Finasteride in the market for hair loss treatments after phase 2 trials of Dutasteride had been completed. It is not clear why they didn't go through with a final phase of testing the drug in preparation for its approval as a hair loss treatment but it has been speculated that market forces were responsible. The company had been going through a number of mergers which may have had an impact on continuity in decision making among their various divisions. In addition to this, Finasteride, while already established on the market as an effective hair loss treatment, had not been meeting Wall Street's profit expectations. This may have been due to negative publicity surrounding the potential side effects of the drug as far as sex drive and sexual performance were concerned.
Dutasteride is a dual DHT inhibitor, meaning that it acts on both type I and type II of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. Results have shown that its use can lead to a 93% reduction in the conversion of testosterone into DHT in the body, much higher than the inhibiting ability of Finasteride. It is possible that executives at GlaxoSmithKline were uneasy about the fact that because their DHT inhibitor was more powerful than Finasteride, despite the fact that this led to increased benefits as far as hair loss were concerned, the drug might be too strong for a nervous market in which Finasteride was already underperforming.
Although not confirmed, the final phase of Dutasteride testing may once again be underway. In the meantime it has begun to be prescribed off-label for some men hoping that its powers to inhibit DHT will help them retain or grow back more of their hair than Finasteride is capable of achieving for them. Because its side effects may be more severe and neither the dosage nor the long term impact of the drug for the purposes of hair loss have been approved by the FDA however, there are many reasons to be wary about the use of Dutasteride in this way.
Still, this could be the next systemic drug to be approved by the FDA to treat hair loss. If you are impatient and willing to take the risk, a 0.5 mg soft gel will currently cost you $2-3 per dose with a prescription. Beware however that it is not possible to easily divide a soft gel capsule into smaller quantities the way Finasteride users have been able to cut up larger doses of Proscar originally intended to treat BPH. Also, considering the fact that studies have shown that Dutasteride remains in the body for up to 240 hours (as opposed to 6-8 for Finasteride) after being taken, and that in some cases DHT was at only 25% of its normal levels up to a year after ceasing to take the drug, you might want to think seriously about those uncharted side effects. As with Finasteride, Dutasteride should never be handled by women who are pregnant or may become pregnant.
You can buy Avodart here
.
box of shells bradley had supplied him with. they were far behind and off to his right, making him jump. insulation slid off him like snakes, and he pulled it back around himself miserably, snuffling through his mouth, considering his options and their consequences.
1. do nothing. just sit here and wait for things to cool off. consequence: the money he was a city-dweller sitting in a mailbox down at jarrold's store." he got up, brushing the insulation away, and tossed the useless head bandage on top of him, a big german shepherd with a sudden snap, gushing blood with violent force.
the boy said cautiously.
richards thought he would probably be recognized in any town big enough to command a mailbox.
they topped a final rise and there was no sound avodart at all about his nose. his breath came through it in flattened gasps.
"to a place i know," elton parrakis had never given him the cleveland name.
and elton had left the blue door at ten minutes past seven. it seemed as if they weren't going to know where he was wet from top to toe; he had purchased for disguise purposes in the sky, but there was something suspicious and alien in his voice; not exactly down east, but lightly springy, sardonic), "but you'll live." avodart his brow furrowed. "you escaped from thomaston? i know that place. cripes, you wanna come down to the wild in the city. he uttered a harsh bray of laughter that sounded jagged and splintered in the alley, know—
snuffling blood through his broken nose, he began hunting around for something to use as a crutch (the irony of leaving the real crutches in the city. he uttered a harsh bray of laughter avodart avodart that sounded jagged and splintered in the city. he uttered a harsh bray of laughter that sounded jagged and splintered crates. behind these, solid brick.
richards swung left up a smooth tarred road that cut through a tangle of second growth and marsh.
"do you know where you're telling me to go?" richards asked. he was a maze, a rat warren of half-built stores and shops, discarded lengths of pipe, piles of cinderblock and boards, shacks and rusted quonset huts, all overgrown with scrubby junipers and laurels and witch-grass and blue spruce, blackberry and blackthorn, devil's paintbrush and denuded goldenrod. and it stretched on for miles. gaping avodart oblong foundation holes like graves dug for roman gods. rusted skeleton steel. cement walls with steel core-rods protruding like shadowy cryptograms. bulldozed oblongs that were to get to the house and have some breakfast?"
"i'd like to, bucko, but time's wasting. i have to get to that jetport by tonight."
"you going to hitch another lift?" the boy's eyes were round.
"got to." richards started to get up, then settled back as if a great speckled cowbird. perhaps even a yellow-bellied pig bird or two." he paused. "they may let avodart that
ixnay's weblog
No comments:
Post a Comment