While hair do have a growing phase where they fall and regrow again, if you are starting to see your hair getting thinner or an unusual amount hair fall, it is probably the time to start looking for a solution. In the market, we often see people use Propecia vs Generic to deal with their hair thinning problem. While these two may sound different, they are actually the same but if you still wonder how they called differently, go check our article below for more information.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– What Caused Androgenetic Alopecia
– What are Propecia and Generic Finasteride
– Why Generic Finasteride are More Affordable
– How Propecia and Generic Finasteride Work
– What are the Side Effects of Propecia and Generic Finasteride
– How to Consume Propecia and Generic Finasteride
– Propecia vs Generic Finasteride
Androgenetic Alopecia
Almost all people want to have a healthy hair without a problem since dealing with them can be tricky and time consuming as well as expensive enough depend on what kind of solution you are seeking. While most of us can get by with just some products available at stores, some may still in the journey to find what kind of solution they need to help them dealing with the issue and depend on each people, this can get very stressing, moreover, if we already try many of them.
Common hair issue may vary from person to another and from men to women. Women who usually have longer hair than men can suffer from weak or damaged hair due to the previous treatments they applied on their hair or from the sun ray but, for men, the most stressing problem is hair fall or balding which is very common. We can find people suffering from the problem everywhere like the professor on our school, our manager or even father.
Unfortunately, hair fall is also happening in both gender and not only men while most are suffered by elderly people, it is not closing any chance younger people or even teenager having the same problem as well. This type of hair thinning or balding is called androgenetic alopecia or just balding and they are not caused by any chemical we put to style or treat our hair but just like the name, by a hormone called DHT which is like a byproduct of testosterone.
Since this is happening from the inside and is genetic, we can’t solve the problem with the usual product we often see at stores like tonic or shampoo that promote hair growth. Some of them do put beneficial ingredients but for this specific issue, we may want to ask a professional help to prescribe a medicine or use the common solution to deal with the problem from the inside. Even though the issue is suffered by many people around the world, there is no cure for the problem even today.
About Propecia and Generic Finasteride
For androgenetic alopecia, the most popular medication used to help dealing with the issue so they won’t get more severe and leaving you with a bald head are finasteride and minoxidil. Some people mostly men may fine with a bald head but for women, they can affect their confidence and may result on emotional problem if not treated properly. These two are over the counter medication and we can get them easily but as for finasteride, they are not formally approved by FDA for use in women.
Both of them are the real name of the medication but in the market, they are more popular to be called Propecia vs Rogaine because these are the brand used to market the medication. It actually not limited to these two only since the ingredient is used by many other similar medications yet, they are still the most well-known. Rogaine is using Minoxidil while Propecia is using Finasteride but, if you want the more affordable option, we can go for generic brand.
Propecia and Generic Finasteride Cost
As you may already know, like any branded medication, Propecia is just a name used to market Finasteride tablets for users, especially men to help them with their balding issue due to DHT. Beside this brand, we can get Finasteride which is the key ingredient on the tablets on various other brand called the generic brand which mostly more affordable than the branded one. This is simply because the other brands don’t have to spend money on inventing the medication themselves that can cost millions of dollars.
With the cheaper price, it will rise a question in our head whether the generic version will perform the same like the branded version or not or does it mean they are lower in quality. It is not happening with Propecia and Generic only but also with other brands with their generic versions. However, taken from Health Harvard, most researches condoned to see if generic medication as effective as the branded one show that they appear to be just as good as the brand-name formulation.
This is because in order to get a stamp of approval from the FDA, a generic medication must be bioequivalent to the branded original products which mean they have to have the same ingredients while they do allowed to have up to 20% variation in the active ingredient from the original medication but, in real life, the observed variation is much smaller around 4%. While they are required to use a very similar ingredients, they are not asked to therapeutically equivalent.
This mean, there is no test required to prove that the generic version will work the same or have the same effects both on the main and side effects as the original branded medication. However, since the chemical composition used are the same, it is safe to think that they will deliver the same result as well.
Propecia and Generic Finasteride Science
The culprit of androgenetic alopecia is DHT which has been stated above, is like a byproduct of testosterone. This hormone is present in both men and women and converted into DHT by the help of 5alpha-reductase found in target tissues. People reacts differently with this androgen and those who are more susceptible to this androgen will lose their hair since they can affect hair follicle, miniaturizing them so they can’t support the present hair and finally shrink completely and won’t produce new hair again.
Propecia with its active ingredient Finasteride was actually developed by the pharmaceutical company as a drug to treat enlarged prostate glands but when on trial, researches at that time found an intriguing effect which is hair growth. Since they are already approved by FDA for the issue, they also pursue the possibility to treat male pattern baldness with the medication and while the one we used called Propecia, the initial drug to treat enlarged prostate is called Proscar.
Finasteride in Propecia or any other generic medication for androgenetic alopecia show a success to prevent the issue from going worse since Finasteride itself has an ability to inhibit the 5alpha-reductase that convert testosterone into DHT or dihydrotestosterone. In result, consuming the medication will reduce the amount of DHT produced and stop the progression of hair loss while in some cases may also promote new hair growth.
Propecia and Generic Finasteride Side Effect
Just like many other medications out there, while Finasteride in various brands whether it is Propecia of from generic brands are proven to be effective in dealing with hair loss due to DHT, there will be some side effects as well. It has to be noted that Propecia is for men only and consuming them may cause impotence, lost of interest in sex, trouble having an orgasm, abnormal ejaculation and other effects like headache and weakness.
In women however, the effects are more severe since they may cause fetal malformations and cause a birth defect mainly in the sex organs of male fetuses when consumed by women who are currently pregnant or planning to have a children in the near future. The risk on this side is so great even women are not allowed to handle or come in contact with a broken tablets of finasteride because there is not enough information about how long the medication will last on the body.
In real practice, there are actually many views among physicians on finasteride so you can found some who will prescribe women the medication or not at all. What we have to highlight here is for premenopausal women, physician who will prescribe finasteride on women will do them in case by case basis and with full counselling of risks and benefits.
Propecia and Generic Finasteride Dose
The dosage of both Propecia and other generic finasteride are the same which we can see on each of their packaging. To treat androgenetic alopecia, the dosage commonly prescribed is 1mg of finasteride a day, thus each tablets of these medication have the proper amount of active ingredient to help reducing DHT and they are consumed once a day.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Propecia with Generic Finasteride. As it has been mentioned earlier, both of them are using finasteride as the active ingredient and have the same dosage. The difference is only because Propecia is brand-name finasteride made by Merck, the one who first develop it as a hair loss medication while the other brands or generic medications are copying the chemical formulation from the original one. In effects, they supposed to be the same since the active ingredient used is also the same finasteride.
Propecia vs Generic Finasteride
| Propecia | Generic Finasteride |
|---|---|
| - Made my Merck | - Made by various brands |
| - The first medication to offer finasteride for hair loss | - Copied from Propecia formulation |
| - More expensive | - More affordable |
Conclusion
All in all, the decision is all yours to make since we may have different preference. It is true that some of us are more comfortable with branded name and it is up to you to decide but for those who want to spend less, generic brands can be a good alternatives to choose.