It is a problem afflicting millions of men worldwide and the commencement of male pattern baldness can be one of the most stressful things to happen in a man's life. I started losing my hair when I was in my early twenties. My maternal grandfather lost his hair in his early twenties and it was suggested to me by my family that I should just resign myself to the fact that I would be bald and stop worrying about it! My grandmother, making her best attempt to be helpful, proffered that 'toupees are quite realistic these days you know.' The last thing that a vain 23 year old wants to hear is that he is going to have to get a rug for his head!

Contrary to the suggestion of my family, I was not going to just accept my fate to become a slap-head before I was thirty! I thought that there must have been some sort of medical advances out there, short of a hair transplant. This was the 1990s afterall! We had cures for all sorts of conditions so why not hair loss? At the risk of being laughed at, I decided to visit my GP to see if there was anything that she could prescribe. To my amazement there was a product called Regaine which is a topical solution which required to be applied to the scalp twice a day. This certainly stabilised my hair loss but it did not encourage new hair growth which is what I was really seeking.

On a trip to the United States I saw a Television advert for a product called Propecia. This was a prescription medication which the manufacturer claimed could reverse hair loss. As it was FDA approved, this claim must have been based on empirical evidence from clinic trials. This must, I thought, be the holy grail of all men genetically predisposed to losing their hair. Immediately on my return to the UK I went to see my GP and asked her to prescribe this medication. She was very happy to write the prescription but the medication was not licensed in the UK and the manufacturer would not send a supply to her. Frustrated but undaunted, I got on a plane and went to Atlanta, signed on with a physician, got a 6 month prescription and headed home. The product worked! Within 6 months I was beginning to see less of my scalp and more hairs on my head! Until it was licensed in the UK I made 2 trips a year to Atlanta to get my repeat prescriptions. I now have a full head of hair and no longer worry about losing it!

Propecia, like a lot of other drugs, was discovered by accident. Finasteride, the active ingredient contained in Propecia, was original developed to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate.) Patients being treated with Finasteride began to notice that they we re-growing hair that was lost years before. Further trials confirmed the original anecdotal evidence.

Male pattern baldness is caused by a naturally occurring hormone called dihydratestosterone (DHT) which attacks the hair follicles in the scalp, causing hair production to slow down and in some cases, cease altogether. Bizarrely, DHT can actually encourage hair growth on other parts of the body such as the chest, back and nostrils. Propecia inhibits the production of DHT and can lead to the re-growth of scalp hair.

Propecia is not suitable for everyone and anyone over the age of 45 should ask their GP for a PSA test to check for prostate problems prior to commencing a course of treatment. Them medication is available from most online pharmacies. This normally works out considerably cheaper than consulting a specialist hair loss clinic. I buy mine from The Online Clinic.