Finasteride is a medication that is also called "Proscar." It's used to treat male pattern baldness. Unfortunately, many men who enjoy bodybuilding are also at risk for this type of baldness, also called androgenic alopecia.

Both men and women can lose hair this way. Typically, the hair begins to fall out in a definite pattern starting above both temples. For women, the pattern itself is slightly different, with the hair fallout occurring all over the head instead of the hairline receding specifically.

If you enjoy bodybuilding, there's no doubt that at least to some extent, you're in it because it provides visually pleasing effects. Therefore, being bald might be problematic for you, depending on who you are.

There are a variety of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to hair loss. Relatively recently, research has determined that this particular type of her loss is related to hormones, androgens, and particularly dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. This condition can also be associated with such diseases as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and an enlarged prostate.

In addition, men who suffer from androgenetic alopecia have both lower levels of testosterone and higher levels of free testosterone. This is of great importance, because it has been found that if you engage in vigorous aerobic exercise every day, you'll decrease your baseline total testosterone, and therefore significantly lower DHT. Therefore, bodybuilders who are interested in building muscle often spend days when they aren't lifting doing aerobic exercise so that they can handle the increased strain on their cardiovascular system.

The drug finasteride has been popular in recent years to treat androgenetic alopecia. As Proscar, it is used to treat prostate enlargement. It was originally thought that proscar or finasteride wouldn't be effective in treating hair loss, whereas it would be in prostate enlargement because it inhibits an enzyme found in the prostate, but not within the hair follicles themselves.

However, was found that finasteride actually decreased the amount of DHT in the body. This also decreased the amount that hair follicles were exposed to and therefore, it slowed down hair loss. Unfortunately, however, this greater hair growth is not consistent among individuals. Some people have had good results while others have only stopped or slowed the loss of your instead regrowing it altogether.

Finasteride comes in 5 mg tablets when prescribed for prostate enlargement. However, it is no marketed as Propecia in 1 mg pills to treat hair loss. Finasteride and Propecia are exactly the same drug; only the amount of active drug in each differs.

Finasteride is a viable option for those who want to weight lift but don't like the hair loss that can often accompany it. Bodybuilders may choose to use medication prior to losing their hair as a means to stop or slow loss that has begun. If you experience hair loss with bodybuilding, you should understand that although finasteride has shown great promise in slowing or stopping hair loss, its effectiveness for actual hair growth is less determined and may likely be slim.

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