Robin McKie, science editor Sunday June 10, 2001 The Observer
Scientists have developed a revolutionary new treatment for baldness. In early trials, the drug - dutasteride - has shown dramatic success in restoring hair to bald men. The development has been hailed as a potential major breakthrough in a battle that has preoccupied millions of men for years. According to Florida University's Dr Marty Sawaya, one of the world's top baldness researchers, the drug could be the first 'wow' product in the field.
Unlike existing scalp treatments, dutasteride is taken in tablet form. Early successful trials have caused feverish excitement on the internet.
Chatrooms are filled with emails demanding details of how to get hold of the pills. However, the company behind dutasteride - GlaxoSmithKline - yesterday cautioned that, although work so far was 'encouraging', clinical trials have still to be completed.
Dutasteride works by interfering with enzymes that break down the male hormone, testosterone, and turn it into dehydrotestosterone (DHT). This second hormone is crucial to development of the male foetus, but in later life can cause hair to thin very dramatically.
'Baldness is not so much a problem of loss of hair, but of hair thinning to near invisibility,' said top US dermatologist Dr Kurt Stenn. 'If you interfere with the operation of DHT, you can halt this.'
Two chemicals which interere with DHT have already been created: minoxidil and finasteride. About a third of users experience modest hair regrowth. But DHT comes in two forms, only one of which is susceptible to these existing drugs, Stenn explained. Dutasteride blocks the action of both forms.
'Of course, it remains to be seen what kinds of side-effect - such as loss of libido - we might get with dutasteride,' added Stenn. 'At the moment, it does not look as if it induces anything very serious. Things look very hopeful indeed.'