Side Effects Related to 5 α-Reductase Inhibitor Treatment of Hair Loss in Women: A Review.

5 α-reductase inhibitors such as finasteride and dutasteride have been studied for the treatment of hair loss in men, with finasteride being the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment. Increasingly, in recent years, off-label use of these drugs has been employed in the treatment of female pattern hair loss (FPHL) and frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) in women. Side effects with 5 α-reductase inhibitors can include changes in sexual function, and recent publications have characterized an increasing prevalence of these in men. A review of 20 peer-reviewed articles found that very few side effects, or adverse events, related to sexual function have been reported in studies in which dutasteride or finasteride has been used to treat hair loss in women. Future publications should investigate not only the efficacy of these drugs in treating FPHL and FFA, but the side effect profile in patients as well.