Written by Stuart Stevens | Friday, 08 June 2007
Research has been done with the male pattern baldness drug Propecia on women who suffer from hirsutism which is the condition that causes excess and unflattering body hair. Propecia which is known as finasteride in scientific circles is a drug that prevents the build-up of dihydrotestosterone in the scalps of men and it is a hair loss drug that can only be used by men.

The researchers felt that the finasteride may also have an effect on the excess amount of male sexual hormones or androgens in women that cause their unwanted body hair. The hirsutism condition can mean that some women will develop dark hair on their upper lips, their chin and even sometimes on their chests and back. This condition can be extremely distressing for some women as it looks so unfeminine and unflattering for women to have this extra hair on their bodies.
The research that was carried out by Dr. Brian Swiglo from the Mayo Clinic College based in Minnesota was a preliminary small study that involved the use of Propecia as well as the other drugs spironolactone and flutamide. The research project was done over a six month period and a group of other women were given placebo medication to ensure proper clinical results.
The results showed that only some of the women benefited from the use of Propecia for their excess hair and for some of the women the hair loss drug had absolutely no effect at all. The researchers concluded that they had only ‘weak evidence’ of the effectiveness of Propecia in treating hirsutism and that further research was needed.
One word of warning from Ukmedix News is that Propecia is a drug that must only be used by men. It can be extremely dangerous for women to use Propecia as animal testing has shown that it can cause birth defects in pregnant women especially defects associated with the development of the male sexual organs.
