Hair loss drug linked to depression in men

Washington - A significant proportion of men who developed persistent sexual side effects from using finasteride - known by its brand name Propecia - also suffer from depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts, a new study has revealed.

“The potential life-threatening side-effects associated with finasteride should prompt clinicians to have serious discussions with their patients,” CBS News quoted Dr. Michael S. Irwig, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, as saying.

According to the National Institutes of Health, finasteride is used to treat male pattern hair loss - the thinning of the hair on the scalp leading to a receding hairline or balding on the top of the head.

The drug can also be used to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy or enlargement of the prostate gland – sold under the brand name Proscar -which can cause problems such as frequent and difficult urination and the sudden inability to urinate.

The study looked at finasteride as found in Propecia. Both Propecia and Proscar are manufactured by Merck.

Previous research had tied the drug to sexual side effects, and in April 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added warning labels to Merck’s drugs.

The FDA had said at that time that Propecia labels would from then onwards include warnings for libido disorders, ejaculation disorders and orgasm disorders that continued for men even months after stopping the drug.

The study questioned 61 men, who formerly used finasteride and had sexual side effects for at least a three month-period, about their demographic information, medical and psychiatric histories, and information on medication use, sexual function, and alcohol consumption.
 
A control group of 29 men who had male pattern hair loss but had never taken finasteride nor had any history of psychiatric problems were also interviewed.

The results showed that, 11 percent of the male finasteride users had mild depressive symptoms; 28 percent had moderate symptoms; and 36 percent had severe symptoms. A significant, 44 percent of subjects had suicidal thoughts. Only 10 percent of the control group had mild depressive symptoms, and 3 percent had suicidal thoughts.

“The preliminary findings of this study warrant further research with controlled studies,” the researchers concluded.

The study was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.