Test, Hairloss, and Finasteride

[DR_C]

Originally Posted by THEHUGE

Patrick Arnold has just answered my question with a PM on bb.com....He says Madol is already 5alpha reduced. Now I'm really confused....

Yup, reduced form of test. No problems with finasteride.

[pudzian2]

I do not have the MPB gene so I think no matter what I take my hairline will be unaffected (has proved to be thus far so lets hope!)... BUT I do run high doses of test 1-1+g per week in my bulking cycles... and the only reason I would use a 5-ar inhibitor would be to reduce the AAS's affect on the prostate... BUT there is all sorts of conflicting information on whether its androgens, estrogens or both that are causing BPH...

Just trying to figure out how much I really should be worrying about the prostate issue. I do take Prostate SUpport by NOW FOODS for prevention sake but who knows how effective that is.

the whole BPH thing is NOT really addressed much on these boards or any others... makes me wonder if its just another overblown side effect

[jomi822]

when in doubt, crush some saw palmetto capsule to extract the oil and mix it in with some nizoral shampoo. youd be amazed at the results.

i use about 250mgs per 100mls of shampoo.

[GotTest]

Originally Posted by jomi822

when in doubt, crush some saw palmetto capsule to extract the oil and mix it in with some nizoral shampoo. youd be amazed at the results.

i use about 250mgs per 100mls of shampoo.

I always wondered about this myself jomi.
Do you notice less shedding or actual growth?

[DR_C]

Originally Posted by GotTest

I always wondered about this myself jomi.
Do you notice less shedding or actual growth?

I wouldn't put to much faith in Saw Palmetto as there has yet to be a peer-reviewed double blind published study of any magnitude that supports the effectivness of the compound for reduction of MPB.

Regards,

[jomi822]

Originally Posted by DR_C

I wouldn't put to much faith in Saw Palmetto as there has yet to be a peer-reviewed double blind published study of any magnitude that supports the effectivness of the compound for reduction of MPB.

Regards,

there have been studies, however, confirming 300mgs of standardized saw palmetto extract to be just as powerful as 1mg a day of proscar for reducing BPH.

Between proven anti-androgen properties and personal experience im fairly convinced. Saw palmetto is dirt cheap. id recommend giving it a try.

[DR_C]

Originally Posted by jomi822

there have been studies, however, confirming 300mgs of standardized saw palmetto extract to be just as powerful as 1mg a day of proscar for reducing BPH.

Between proven anti-androgen properties and personal experience im fairly convinced. Saw palmetto is dirt cheap. id recommend giving it a try.

Not to get into a pissing contest here, if it works for you then, by all means, use it.

In the business, that is what we call antidotal evidence.

As of today, my search in the Med-Pub database show that there has never been a peer reviewed published study assessing saw palmetto compared to other 5alpha reductase for MPB. If there is, by all means, give me a citation so I can enlighten myself.

There have been a couple of studies that detailed the use of saw palmetto on BPE but there has only been one published peer reviewed study regarding its use for MPB.

It is very flawed study for a number of reasons i.e. the methodology employed by the researchers, very small number of subjects (n=10) and the data collection (visual observation after 6 months).

Here is the study, look it up

Prager N; Bickett K, French N, Marcovici G (2002 Apr 8). "A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of botanically derived inhibitors of 5-alpha-reductase in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia.". J Altern Complement Med 8 (2): 143–152.

Not to mention the fact that it is published in a very suspect journal.

Regards,