Health Risks Associated with Long-Term Finasteride and Dutasteride Use: It's Time to Sound the Alarm
Abdulmaged M. Traish
The World Journal of Men's Health2020
Summary (paraphrased)
Traish argues that dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is far more than a prostate-and-hair hormone, documenting its physiological roles in liver, pancreatic beta-cell function and survival, ocular and lacrimal function, and kidney physiology. Blocking DHT synthesis with finasteride or dutasteride therefore has systemic consequences that extend well beyond the intended targets. The review catalogs health risks associated with long-term 5-alpha-reductase inhibition and contends that the drugs' safety profile has been underappreciated. It is written as a call to clinicians to weigh these broader risks, especially for cosmetic use in young men.
Why it’s in the corpus
Provides the systemic-physiology counterweight to narrow urologic/dermatologic framing of 5-AR inhibitors — foundational context for why persistent multi-system symptoms after finasteride are biologically plausible.
Related records
- Peer-reviewed paper
The connection of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors to the development of depression
Thiraphat Saengmearnuparp; Bannakij Lojanapiwat; Nipon Chattipakorn; Siriporn Chattipakorn · Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
Clinical studies indicate that former users of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors carry a higher incidence of depressive symptoms and neuropsychiatric side effects than non-users, yet the mechanisms behind depression in former users — sometimes called…
ARLIT-0512021PFSLiterature sweep · Oct 2026 - Peer-reviewed paperSIDEfxHUB pick
Androgen Receptor (AR) Gene (CAG)n and (GGN)n Length Polymorphisms and Symptoms in Young Males With Long-Lasting Adverse Effects After Finasteride Use Against Androgenic Alopecia
Cauci, Sabina; Chiriacò, Giovanni; Cecchin, Erika; Toffoli, Giuseppe; Xodo, Serena; Stinco, Giuseppe; Trombetta, Carlo · Sexual Medicine · 5(1):e61-e71
In 66 PFS patients, short/long (CAG)n and (GGN)n repeat lengths in the androgen receptor gene were associated with different symptom frequencies (libido loss, genital sensitivity changes, muscle tone, skin dryness, etc.), with a U-shaped pattern for some…
ARPFS-0072017PFSCore corpus - Peer-reviewed paperPSSD Discord pick
Multiple roles for UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT)2B15 and UGT2B17 enzymes in androgen metabolism and prostate cancer evolution
Gauthier-Landry L, Bélanger A, Barbier O · Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Review of two glucuronidation enzymes, UGT2B15 and UGT2B17, that convert DHT metabolites (3α-diol and androsterone) into inactive, easily excreted glucuronide conjugates. It describes how these enzymes control local androgen availability and androgen-receptor…
ARUGT2B15UGT2B17DISC-0032015 (epub 2014)PFSPSSD Discord picks