Dutasteride for Women: Is it Safe and Effective?

Hair thinning is a concerning issue that many women suffer from. It’s not restricted to a specific geographic area or age group, and almost 40% of women around 50 years of age suffer from this affliction. But of course, there are differences in the severity and spread of female pattern hair loss across different groups.

Recently, we’ve seen a handful of off-label products that claim to treat that problem. Dutasteride is one of these promising drugs. It was originally used in treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is clearly not related to women.

Using Dutasteride for women is still being studied. It’s worth noting that it hasn’t even been authorized as a baldness medicine for men. What we’re doing here is exploring the latest findings about this drug, especially its efficacy for stopping women’s hair loss, and whether or not it has serious side effects.

What Is Dutasteride?

Dutasteride is a 5𝞪 reductase inhibitor (5ARI), which deters the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). But why do scientists want to stop that conversion?

It’s presumed that DHT is the main cause of male pattern hair loss. When this substance reaches a hair follicle, it makes it shrink, and become incapable of producing hair. This condition is known as androgenic alopecia.

It’s thus understandable why researchers went all-in in trying to halt the conversion of testosterone to the hair-damaging substance DHT. Finasteride is among the first products that attempted to counter hair loss using this method, and it did show encouraging outcomes.

How Does Dutasteride Work?

Dutasteride prevents the conversion of testosterone by around 90%, which is a remarkable degree of inhibition. In the absence of DHT, hair fall is visibly decreased, and there’s more of an opportunity for hair growth.

Dutasteride is pretty similar to Finasteride in many aspects, but it exceeds it in one particular feature. Dutasteride can block two types of the 5𝞪 reductase; which are isoforms I and II. on the other hand, Finasteride blocks isoform II only.

Are Female and Male Hair Loss Patterns Similar?

The mode of action described above is how the drug works on men. Women have a different hormonal composition, and their hair fall isn’t tied up to a single factor.

Besides androgenic alopecia, other factors of women’s hair loss include:

Physical or emotional stress
Significant weight loss
Pregnancy and childbirth
Taking certain medications
Nutritional deficiencies
Hormonal imbalances

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
Thyroid disorders
Autoimmune disorders
Receiving chemotherapy
Aggressive hairstyling practices
Aging

Both men and women have testosterone flowing in their bodies, but naturally, the amounts differ drastically between the sexes. 5𝞪 reductase is also present in females, and it converts the male hormone into DHT.

Some researchers noted that DHT might be to blame for female pattern hair loss in a manner that’s similar to what happens with men. This hypothesis was proven to have merit since treating some women with 5𝞪 reductase inhibitors slowed down their androgenic alopecia.

Many before and after photos of women who received Dutasteride treatment show significant improvement in areas where hair had thinned down dramatically. These results still need long-term observation to suggest safe usage.

Does Dutasteride Regrow Hair for Women?

A 3-year study followed the results of treating 3500 women with androgenic alopecia using dutasteride 0.15 mg.

By the end of the three years, researchers noticed an 83% improvement in hair thickness, especially in women below 50 years of age. Additionally, post-treatment images of 66% of the women displayed superior density.

These studies are barely sufficient to prove efficacy, but they do show promise. Despite these early results, further research is needed, especially, for long-term usage and potential side effects. The FDA hasn’t yet approved the use of Dutasteride for treating hair loss in women.

Another challenging point remains, which is establishing that the hair loss pattern in question is caused by elevated rates of conversion of testosterone to DHT. Unlike men, women could suffer from hair loss due to a myriad of reasons.

Does Dutasteride Increase Estrogen in Women?

Dutasteride typically works on testosterone and inhibits its conversion to another form as it’s subjected to 5𝞪 reductase.

In theory, this shouldn’t interfere with estrogen. However, hormones are tricky substances, and significant increases in one hormone could easily stimulate the production of another. When testosterone is kept from being transformed into DHT, its levels increase.

This could lead to a reaction where some of that excess is converted to estrogen by the aromatase enzyme. Some of the side effects point in that direction, such as the disruption of menstrual cycles, fetal injuries, and hormonal imbalance.

Further studies are needed to establish a correlation.

What Are Dustasteride’s Side Effects for Women?

Few drugs come with no side effects, but some come with a more serious set of these. Doctors normally do a proper assessment of costs and benefits before prescribing any treatment.

Even with the limited studies of Dutasteride for treating female pattern hair loss, there’s a long list of undesirable side effects that users should consider.

Here are the most common:

Hormonal imbalances
Heightened testosterone levels
Irregular menstrual cycles
Development of male characteristics
Unwanted hair growth
Breast tenderness
Breast enlargement
Decreased fertility or infertility
Birth defects
Undeveloped male fetuses
Decreased sex drive
Vaginal dryness
Hair loss
Headaches
Fatigue
Lightheadedness
Queasiness

Depression and anxiety
Allergic reactions

It should be noted here that this list doesn’t include the effects of long-term usage. So the list could get longer as more findings come out.

Can a Woman Take Dutasteride?

Taking an off-label drug is usually not recommended. In some cases though, doctors find it inescapable as there aren’t many alternatives to that treatment. Close medical supervision is required if users decide to take that route.

The most important concern while using Dutasteride for women is the damage it causes to unborn babies. Birth defects, especially in male fetuses, are an unacceptable risk. Thus, women of childbearing age and condition should not use Dutasteride at all.

Post-menopausal women, or younger women who had their uteruses surgically removed, might be more eligible to use Dutasteride. And that is only if their doctor establishes that their hair loss is caused by a higher concentration of DHT in their hair follicles.

In Conclusion

Androgenic alopecia is a common issue that affects millions of men and women. Even young children are susceptible to that. Hair thinning isn’t a good look, and few people can go about their lives unaware of it.

Some resort to shaving off their hair entirely, some wear hairpieces to hide their empty hair patches, while others resort to experimental treatments in the hopes of reversing the hair loss sequence.

Dutasteride is among the new off-label treatments of androgenic alopecia. It’s not yet approved for that usage, but as we know, several doctors recommend it to their patients. There’s a long list of potential side effects so users should be aware of that, especially women.

There’s an important reason why using Dutasteride for treating hair loss is different for women than it is for men. Women’s hair loss is caused by a variety of reasons, while men’s hair loss is usually attributed to the excessive conversion of testosterone to DHT.

Only a specialist can say whether using Dutasteride is safe for a particular woman. But in general, it shouldn’t be used if there’s any chance at all of becoming pregnant at the time of using the drug or afterward.

Post-menopausal women and women who have performed hysterectomies are better candidates for that treatment, and the initial studies show that they could possibly stop their hair loss. Also, the areas on their scalp where hair has visibly thinned could get better.