when it comes to drug treatments for androgenetic alopecia. While many drugs may work to some degree for some women, doctors are reluctant to prescribe them, and drug companies aren't exactly falling over themselves to test existing or new drugs specifically for their ability to prevent and treat female pattern baldness.
Physicians are reluctant to use systemic treatment (a pill or other form of internal treatment that affects your entire system) unless they know that the hair loss is due to an excess of androgen in the system or a sensitized "over-response" to the so-called "normal" amounts of androgen in the system. That's because these systemic treatments may lower the body's androgen levels. Therefore, physicians often choose topical treatments (those that are applied directly to the scalp).
The best results from treatment happen when you begin treatment as soon as possible after the hair loss begins because prolonged androgenetic alopecia may destroy many of the hair follicles. The use of anti-androgens after prolonged hair loss will at least help prevent further hair loss and encourage some hair regrowth from those follicles that have been dormant but are still viable, Stopping treatment will result in the hair loss resuming if the androgens aren't kept in check in some other way. Maintaining your vitamin and mineral levels helps while you're on anti-androgen medications.
Minoxidil
Minoxidil is a vasodilator and originally was exclusively used as an oral drug (Loniten) to treat high blood pressure. It was discovered, however, to have the side effect of hair growth and reversing baldness, and in the 1980s, Upjohn Corporation received FDA approval to market a topical solution that contained 2% minoxidil to be used to treat baldness and hair loss as Rogaine, marketed as Regaine outside the USA.
Finasteride
Finasteride, initially marketed as the brand-name drugs Propecia and Proscar by Merck, belongs to a class of drugs called aza-steroids. Finasteride is a "DHT inhibitor" and was originally approved by the US FDA for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The drug works by binding to 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of free testosterone to DHT.
Dutasteride
In 2001, GlaxoSmithKline released another aza-steroid called dutasteride, marketed as Avodart. Like finasteride, dutasteride was originally developed for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). It is not currently sold for baldness treatment.
