The most recent Japanese study on finasteride. Can you guys believe it?

General Discussion Media & Awareness
#1

regrowhair.com/general-hair-loss-topics/japanese-study-finds-propecia-finasteride-safe-and-effective-for-treating-male-hair-loss/

I don’t know whether many of you have seen this but there was recently a clinical study in Japan to evaluate the safety of finasteride. It was the largest and most conclusive study since the initial FDA trials by Merck.

“Adverse sexual side effects (including reduced libido and erectile dysfunction) were observed in only 0.7% of patients, even less than the 2% quoted in the original Propecia study. Based on this data, the research team concluded that Propecia is a safe and effective treatment for androgenic alopecia in Japanese males (and also stated that the results are unlikely to vary between males of different ethnic backgrounds). This study helps confirm the safe and effective nature of Propecia (finasteride) for treating male hair loss.”

#2

Wow that was unexpected… Seems that anyone can be bought when the money is right…

#3

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21980923

Above is a direct link to the study for anyone that may not find it in the article.

Mikey, that is all i can think of too. There is NO WAY that only 0.7% of the candidates suffered sexual side effects. I would hazard a guess that 60-70% of finasteride users experience some changes in semen or things like ball ache. You can see that ‘most’ guys on the hair loss forums complain of one sexual side effect or another.

The ultimate study on finasteride side effects would not involve any funding from Merck (cough, cough) be over a few years and the participants would come off the drug a couple of times during treatment. I can only imagine the findings.

To be honest i don’t care that this study is good for finasteride, it might sound horrible but the more people taking the drug; the more victims, and the more victims, the more chance we have of ever getting to the bottom of this.

#4

Remember joe these results are from people who are on fin, many here didnt have a problem till they quit.
Also your right its a load of crap, nothing more than a merck funded attempt to squash us.

Why are the changing all the labels world wide if its safe?

#5

There was also a study that came out a few months ago that stated that something like only 35% of Japanese men report wanting to have sex with a woman over the past year. So I could see how so few would realize their dick is falling off, since they basically already are anyways.

Edit: sorry. It was 36% of males 16-19 had ZERO interest in sex. that number should realistically in a normal population be around 97%. The number was increasing every 2 years by a pretty large %…so now 4 years later I wouldnt be surprised if it is around 45%

#6

Very true Tim. Still though, side effects ON the drug occur way more than that. I never had any major issues, i could always have sex a few times daily as usual but my semen turned watery and my balls ached.

#7

If that just study just came out, I have a feeling Merck is scared and probably paid off someone to publish that because they are anticipating being taken to court very soon. This way they can use this study as evidence to support their evil selves and make an arguement that a recent independent study verified that fin is safe. This way they can hope to avoid a trial and have a judge dismiss the case before it gets publicity and make us sound like crazies. I hope they burn in hell!!!

#8

It wouldn’t surprise me. In fact, i think that is a pretty sound theory if i am honest.

#9

I was told by a top NYC urologist that he sees people coming in complaining of propecia side effects every other week. I doubt that even 10% of them are on this forum. He, himself told me he doubts the literature about 2% having side effects and thinks its closer to 20-40%.

#10

Regardless of how much stock you put into them ‘rigging’ the study, its clear that this is going to be used in their legal battle. With website being removed and now this, its all too clear. Personally, I think its a tad fishy. The problem is that its so very hard to quantify how many men are affected. Also, its possible there’s a genetic link that the Japanese are less susceptible to.

#11

Was he thinking 20-40% had permanent sides after stopping or just while on Fin? If while on did he guess how many were screwed up like us, long after we quit?

#12

I find this study very interesting on two levels:

  1. If over 3000 Japanese men were able to take Finasteride for over a year without incident, it definitely points toward a genetic origin for PFS. There are many diseases - Parkinson’s for example, that predominately occur in one race over all others. Tay-Sachs (Eastern Europeans), Sickle Cell (Black), Breast Cancer (Caucasian) are some others.
  2. This study was published in late 2011. Even if Merck wants to use it in their lawsuit - this study was published AFTER Merck had already updated the US label - and AFTER Merck allowed the drugs to carry the different warnings in Europe v. US. Even if they want to use it in their case, how can they justify allowing the two different labels when then research came out years later.

I don’t really know what to believe in regards to this research, but it is curious that Finasteride had been on the market for almost 18 years before independent research into Finasteride was conducted - and it just happens to come out as Merck begins to see the writing on the wall in terms of lawsuits. I just want those bastards at Merck to find a cure for this - I could care less about personal gain - and I can’t believe they will be off the hook when its all said and done.

#13

when i first saw this the first thing that came to my mind was some sort of cultural phenomenon. it seems like japanese people are not genetically predisposed to have their lives destroyed from using finasteride. who knows…

#14

Are there any Asian PFS victims? Is everyone on the site Caucasian?

#15

Japanese people also have lower rates of lung cancer even though they smoke more than people in the west.

Maybe they just live healthy lifestyles than people in the west.

lungcancer.about.com/od/causesof … aradox.htm

#16

Theirs an Asian PFS victim on the front page also one in this video

youtube.com/watch?v=zZqDkI37CcU

#17

Yeah - the guy in the video looks like he might be 50/50 Asian/Caucasian…maybe the Asians are immune in some ways to PFS…

#18

I wonder are people who eat junk food more likely to get PFS ? I use to eat a lot of junk food (and still do) but I also went to the gym alot.

#19

I wouldn’t get up in arms or worry to much about this study. Let’s remember that the study does indicate that there are still SOME who experience side effects. This study doesn’t address those that did and doesn’t even mention the ‘persistence’ of side effects. All it does is try to prove that it is “rare.” We know this is real and we will not have a difficult time proving it through litigation (what with the label changes, the PFS foundation, etc.) So if this study is scaring you… don’t let it.

#20

I think you guys are believing too much in this study. What if it was paid by Merck, even if it was officially not done by them?
To me the reason the research was done in Japan is cultural, and intentional. They deliberated chose Japan to do this study. Japanese are much more shy about talking about sex. Talking about sex is still a taboo for many japanese. So, it could be harder for sexual side effects to be described on the study, but it doesn’t mean they didn’t have them. Also, i remember a report describing how vain the last generation of men in Japan is, the magazine even called them feminine (which could mean they don’t care too much about sex compared to looks). So japanese young men are not a good parameter to test this medication, because of cultural differences.