Does Finasteride Lower Cholesterol? – Dr. Manu Gujrati Breaks Down the Research

Finasteride (which many people know by the brand name Propecia) is a DHT blocker known to help protect against Male Pattern Baldness for almost 30 years. At Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration, we have been discussing this benefit from the start of our practice, and it has helped so many of our patients over the years.

New research recently published in the Journal of Lipid Research has discovered even more advantages to taking finasteride. A team of scientists from the University of Illinois and the University of Maryland have found that men taking finasteride had lower total cholesterol levels than those who were not. This was especially noticeable in patients who were already diagnosed with heart disease.

The researchers also found that in special mice used as models for human heart disease and high cholesterol, treatment with finasteride also decreased the size of dangerous plaques (blockages) in arteries around the heart. These are what cardiologists look at to see how bad someone’s heart disease is and what we use stents or bypass surgery to repair in patients with heart attacks and bad heart disease.

This is great news for all our patients, but there is always more to learn. Right now, the research does not tell us what dose of finasteride or for how long a patient needs to take to experience these great benefits.