Neuroprotection
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2015
- Messages
- 1,264
Of course it can impact testosterone levels, it's inhibiting testosterone breakdown. This can lead to reduced androgen receptor activation (as DHT is a more potent androgen), and also to increased estradiol levels. Reduced allopregnanolone levels might explain some of the negative reactions to finasteride, but other individuals might be reacting to increased estradiol or insufficient androgen receptor activation.
Although the point I was making with the study I linked is that most of the sexual side-effects from finasteride seem to be due to a baseline testosterone deficiency, since the study showed that testosterone in the absence of DHT was sufficient to maintain sexual function.
I guess everyone has to weigh the cost and benefit, but for most people losing hair is psychologically traumatizing in and of itself. I've personally had no negative side-effects from finasteride, but one person's experience is meaningless for a drug with over 8 million prescriptions in the USA alone. Ofc finasteride might produce adverse side-effects in a small subset of the population, but that's no different than any other drug really, so I don't understand the cultish fear mongering when it comes to finasteride. And these people would have the population at large replace it with what? Oral minoxidil and its association with cardiovascular abnormalities?
Okay, thank you for that. I wasn’t aware of the number of those affected. To be honest, my frustration is more with some researchers rather than just with medications or pharmaceutical companies. I think it is very unlikely that the post finasteride syndrome is caused by permanent brain damage despite the effects possibly lasting for decades. Instead, it is probably The case that 5Alpha reductase inhibition and the resulting decreased neurosteroid synthesis could knock brain circuits out of balance. this is similar to what is theorised about the post-SSRI syndrome. medical research needs to focus on understanding the exact mechanisms for these phenomena, after which they could probably be easily reversed. I did however, find some quite worrying information about finasteride in an article which claimed it had antipsychotic and other anti-dopaminergic properties including a very strong suppression of dopamine D1 receptor-mediated behaviours.