The AGA Treatment Revolution 48

Chapter 4: The Arrival of a Savior that Changed the Common Sense of Hair Growth and Regrowth

The introduction of finasteride opened a new path for hair growth and regrowth.

The incidence of male pattern baldness varies by race. Mongoloids, including Japanese, have a lower incidence of male pattern baldness compared to Caucasoids, such as Europeans, and Negroids, such as Africans. Among Mongoloids, Native Americans, who have traditionally been said to have less baldness, became a game changer in the potential for hair growth and regrowth with their traditional consumption of the North American native plant saw palmetto as we entered the 20th century.

Saw palmetto first came into the limelight for its effect on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is a condition where the prostate, located next to the bladder in men, becomes enlarged. This enlargement narrows the urinary tract, making it difficult to urinate, increasing the frequency of bathroom visits, and causing a sensation of residual urine.

Upon analyzing the components of saw palmetto, it was discovered that finasteride is effective in suppressing BPH. In 1992, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), serving a similar role to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, approved finasteride (brand name Proscar) for the treatment of BPH. It was developed by Merck, a major American pharmaceutical company. To obtain approval as a treatment drug, it is required to administer it to many patients to confirm its effects and side effects. In this process, it was accidentally found that finasteride is not only effective for BPH but also for improving male pattern baldness. Thus, in 1997, the FDA re-approved finasteride as a treatment for male pattern baldness under the brand name Propecia.

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