Propecia is the world’s most popular hair loss medication

We have reported extensively over the last six months about professional sportsmen who having used the finasteride hair loss drug ended up being banned from their sports unaware that it was a prohibited substance. Finasteride is the key ingredient in the hair loss medication Propecia. However it appears that The World Anti-Doping Agency is revising its rules and regulations which will mean that this medication will be less serious for professional sportsmen to use. As from the 1st January, 2008 anyone using the finasteride medication will not be handed a sporting ban but will be merely given a warning.

While this ruling is obviously a relief to people who use the Propecia hair loss drug it has irked those sportsman who were banned from their respective sports for using it. For example Stan Lazaridis who plays football in Australia still has a few more months of his ban to run before he is allowed to play in the professional game again. He said however that he was glad that the The World Anti-Doping Agency has come to their senses and said that he hoped that nobody would have to experience what he went through last year.

The finasteride in the Propecia hair drug does not actually enhance the physical performance of athletes but can work as a masking agent to disguise the use of performance enhancing steroids. Athletes need to be extremely wary of using any type of medication because the list of banned substances is extremely long. For example most weight loss drugs are not permitted to be used by professional athletes.

Propecia is the world’s most popular hair loss medication and it is reckoned that at any one time well over 4 million men use it.