01How long did the vertex programs keep counting?
Men who finished the first 12 months of the two vertex baldness trials could enter extensions. Hair-count advantage on Propecia was maintained through the remaining 3 years of those studies. At 12 months, 58 percent of men on placebo had further hair loss by count, compared with 14 percent on Propecia. Those count percentages are a different card from the photograph 48 versus 7. In men treated up to 2 years, 72 percent on placebo showed hair loss by count, compared with 17 percent on Propecia. Count loss and the photograph increase are two reads of the same programs.
02What happens if the daily tablet stops?
Withdrawal of treatment leads to reversal of effect within 12 months. Continued use is recommended to sustain benefit. The hair label does not write a six-week course with a holiday after it. If the clinician stops the tablet for a reaction, that stop is the chart's decision. A home holiday to 'save tablets' is the reversal clock starting. The first judgement clock is three months or more. The stay-on clock is the daily swallow after a benefit is there. Those are two different waits on the same 1 mg tablet.
03What did the 12-month photograph panel show?
An independent panel rated standardized photographs of the head in a blinded fashion on a 7-point scale. At 12 months, 48 percent of men treated with Propecia had an increase as compared with 7 percent of men treated with placebo. That pair is the photograph read at 12 months. The scale scored increases or decreases in scalp hair. A longer clip of that panel sits at the 12-month photograph panel. Investigator clinic scores used the same 7-point idea. They are not this photograph pair.
04Did men who left the tablet lose the count they had gained?
A change of treatment from Propecia to placebo in 48 men at the end of the first 12 months resulted in reversal of the increase in hair count 12 months later, at 24 months. That is the stop story in the vertex programs. The count they had gained on the tablet did not stay once the swallow stopped. Starting later still raised count after a placebo year, but the first-year starters kept a higher absolute count through the remaining years. Men who switched from placebo to Propecia after that first year (n=425) rose after they started, and still sat below the count of men who had the tablet from day one.
05Is 1 mg written as a short course?
Once daily is the hair Administration line. One 1 mg tablet. There is no labelled stop week for hair. The tablet is for male pattern hair loss in men only. If you and the clinician decide the swallow is done, plan on the reversal window. The finasteride shelf does not turn 1 mg into a pulse pack. Every-other-day after a good year is not a second Administration sentence. A schedule change is a clinician rewrite, not a home taper. The labelled hair dose stays one tablet once daily while the swallow continues.
06Where does the three-month wait still sit?
Daily use for three months or more is necessary before benefit is observed. That is the first judgement clock, not the stay-on clock. You do not get a 12-month photograph read at week six. You also do not stop at month four because the photograph panel used month 12. The two clocks answer different questions: when to judge, then how long the gain needs the tablet. Investigators saw a clinic difference as early as 3 months. That early score is not permission to quit at month four. See how soon it works for the first wait.