Yet again the hair loss drug Propecia, or finasteride as it is known as medically, has appeared in the bloodstream of an athelete. This time it is a top ranked tennis player called Mark Nielsen. He recently won the Wellington Open in New Zealand.

Finasteride can show up in urine samples taken from sportsmen. The drug itself is not banned for any performance enhancing abilities but because it is able to cover up the use of other performance enhancing drugs in the bloodstream. Finasteride has been banned by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) from the beginning of the year 2005.

Finasteride works as a DHT blocker that can actually prevent male pattern balding and hair loss. It is administered daily with a small pill and is very popular with balding men. It has almost no side effects and is simple to administer adding to its popularity.

The tennis player in question must now face a tribunal to decide whether he is eligible to continue playing professional tennis and could get a 2-year ban from playing if the tribunal finds against him. The tennis player has declined to comment on whether he was using the drug as a hair loss treatment however the facts seem to point to this. He did comment that he had no idea that the drug was banned for sportsmen.