Evidence mapPaperPMID 32202088Full record

ReviewThe world journal of men's health2020

Health Risks Associated with Long-Term Finasteride and Dutasteride Use: It's Time to Sound the Alarm.

Abdulmaged M Traish

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in The world journal of men's health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 59 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. The post-finasteride syndrome: possible etiological mechanisms and symptoms.International journal of impotence research · 2025
    Review
  7. Post-finasteride syndrome - a true clinical entity?International journal of impotence research · 2025
    Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Zhuangyao Jianshen pill ameliorates testosterone-induced benign postatic hyperplasia in rats.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2024
    Article
  15. Global online interest in finasteride sexual side effects.International journal of impotence research · 2024
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Abdulmaged M TraishDepartment of Urology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. atraish@bu.edu.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3850-0329
Boston University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT) is the most potent natural androgen. 5α-DHT elicits a multitude of physiological actions, in a host of tissues, including prostate, seminal vesicles, hair follicles, skin, kidney, and lacrimal and meibomian glands. However, the physiological role of 5α-DHT in human physiology, remains questionable and, at best, poorly appreciated. Recent emerging literature supports a role for 5α-DHT in the physiological function of liver, pancreatic β-cell function and survival, ocular function and prevention of dry eye disease and kidney physiological function. Thus, inhibition of 5α-reductases with finasteride or dutasteride to reduce 5α-DHT biosynthesis in the course of treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or male pattern hair loss, known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA) my induces a novel form of tissue specific androgen deficiency and contributes to a host of pathophysiological conditions, that are yet to be fully recognized. Here, we advance the concept that blockade of 5α-reductases by finasteride or dutasteride in a mechanism-based, irreversible, inhabitation of 5α-DHT biosynthesis results in a novel state of androgen deficiency, independent of circulating testosterone levels. Finasteride and dutasteride are frequently prescribed for long-term treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms in men with BPH and in men with AGA. This treatment may result in development of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD), insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), dry eye disease, potential kidney dysfunction, among other metabolic dysfunctions. We suggest that long-term use of finasteride and dutasteride may be associated with health risks including NAFLD, IR, T2DM, dry eye disease and potential kidney disease.

Indexed as

5-alpha reductase inhibitorsDiabetes mellitusDry eye syndromesHypogonadismKidney diseasesNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Identifiers

PMID32202088
PMCPMC7308241
OpenAlexW3012572949

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.