With all the bad press that "cosmetic" drugs get these days, it's nice to find one that is lauded for its medical abilities. While the hairless have long been persecuted by the haired, they have also called bald people vain for worrying about their appearance. It's just hair right?

Surprisingly, it's not just hair.

Prostate Woes

The same thing that causes male pattern hair loss and baldness plays a big part in the development of prostate cancer. The culprit is a hormone, dihydrotestosterone, which is common in all men, but comes in higher levels at certain times for some than for other men at other times. Dihydrotestosterone is an androgen, a class of hormones named so because they are essential to men and the development of male characteristics (andro is from the Ancient Greek for male).

While you can thank dihydrotestosterone for the development of the external male sex organs, because it is produced in the prostate, there are unwanted complications that come with it: namely, benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. And, oh yeah, male pattern baldness.

Some of our knowledge about this androgen has come through research into pseudohermaphroditism, a condition in which the affected person is born with sex characteristics in between what is typically expected of males or females. These individuals are usually raised as female, but are technically male; they simply lack the necessary amount of dihydrotestosterone to develop fully. Interestingly and remarkably, these individuals do not seem to develop prostate cancer either.

As thousands of patients were studied later on in different research studies and clinical trials, the link began to strengthen, even if the data has not been exactly clear on what that link is. Some studies have shown that people without male pattern baldness are less likely to get prostate cancer. Others, however, have shown that people with early onset male pattern baldness are least likely yet to have problems with their prostate later in life.

A Cure for Both?

The connection between male pattern baldness and prostate disease was first discovered when doing research into the possibility of curing prostate cancer with a drug that stops testosterone from being converted into dihydrotestosterone. The subjects started to grow their hair back!

After testing the drug some more, they determined that it at least shrinks prostate tumors and, as further studies have proved, helps prevent prostate cancer in the first place.

Remarkably, studies testing its effect on hair loss and regrowth were also positive. In fact, 2 out of 3 people who take this drug grow hair back. Even the people that don't regrow hair may at least stop their hair loss.

This has become so well known that some men, in order to save money on their prescription or perhaps to avoid the label of vanity, have been asking for the 5mg version of the pill, called Propecia, to prevent prostate cancer, then simply breaking it up into 1mg doses to fight baldness.

Of course, there is no need for this! You can get Propecia cheaply and safely right from your computer if you find the right online pharmacy.

If anyone asks and you're embarrassed, just say you are taking Propecia for prostate cancer!