Plastic surgeon unveils ‘first-line’ drug for preventing hair loss loved by Donald Trump

A plastic surgeon has unveiled the hair loss drug loved by presidents and celebrities like Donald Trump and Rob Lowe that he prescribes to patients battling a thinning hairline.

Dr. Gary Linkov, based in New York City, says finasteride is his treatment of choice for patients who are getting bold.

Although finasteride was originally used to treat enlarged prostate, it is often used to treat hair loss in men.

The drug works by preventing the body from converting testosterone into DHT, a substance that causes hair follicles to shrink and fall out.

Dr. Linkov said in a YouTube video that he uses it as a “first line of defense” for men because research shows that more than 80 percent of men have significant hair loss by the time they turn 50.

Dr. Linkov said: ‘Most men will lose most of their hair, usually between the ages of 25 and 35, which is accelerated hair loss, and after that there is probably even slower hair loss.

‘[Finasteride] is what I would recommend as first-line medical therapy [hair loss] in men.’

The drug is taken by more than 2.4 million men annually, possibly including President-elect Donald Trump, according to his longtime physician Dr. Harold Bornstein, who revealed the president’s prescription list in a series of job interviews with The New York Times.

Above is a man’s scalp before (left) and after he took finasteride and minoxidil. Finasteride can help slow hair loss, while minoxidil can cause hair to grow thicker

Dr. Linkov dismissed other treatments, such as lasers and micro-needling, saying these can help thicken existing hair but will not help prevent a person’s hairline from receding.

The plastic surgeon continued: ‘In their twenties, most people are trying to figure themselves out, they’re trying to improve their career, figure out what job they’re going to get and all that.

“And that’s not the time when they’re necessarily so fixated on their hair.”

“And when they start to notice, you know, that there’s big pockets opening up and the recession and the loss of the crown and all this, well… then in a sense it’s too late to go back to the way things were.” used to be precise.’

Although finasteride won’t bring back hair that has already fallen out, doctors say it can slow further loss — and in young adults, slow age-related hairline decline.

The drug, which is available by prescription, costs $20 to $60 per month and is recommended to be taken once a day in the form of a pill or solution.

Dr. Linkov usually prescribes finasteride in the form of a pill.

It is FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss, and clinical trials In 1,800 men, it was found that after two years, only 17 percent of those taking finasteride had hair loss, compared to 72 percent of those not taking the drug.

However, it has been linked to unwanted side effects such as chills, cold sweats and a loss of libido, but doctors say these only affect one to two percent of patients.

However, some people have come forward saying the drug has permanently damaged their bodies – including a 22-year-old man who said it shrunk his testicles.

The above images, from him, show a man before taking finasteride and seven months after starting the drug

In some cases, Dr. Linkov also simultaneously prescribed Minoxidil, sold under the brand name Rogaine, which can help thicken hair by stimulating blood flow to hair follicles.

Minoxidil is also available as a pill or liquid and costs about $15 per month. It became the first FDA-approved treatment for male hair loss in 1988.

Donald Trump’s longtime doctor, Dr. Harold Bornstein, suggested the president-elect used finasteride in 2017, and Trump, 78, has previously been linked to a number of hair transplants and other procedures to preserve his hairline.

Although neither the president nor his team have ever confirmed the speculation.

Rob Lowe admitted this during a May 2019 interview with the British Daily Telegraph that he started using the drug as soon as he noticed hair loss.

In the interview, in which he said Prince William could have taken ‘a pill’ to prevent his hair loss, he added: ‘Honestly, one of the biggest traumatic experiences of my life was watching Prince William lose his hair.

‘He’s going to be the goddamn King of England! And… and there is a pill!

“The first glimpse of even one hair of mine falling out, I had stuff in my fucking veins. And that’s what I did for the next thirty years.’

Gary Linkov revealed his preference for finasteride in a YouTube video. He prescribes it to patients alongside Minoxidil because he says it can help prevent hair loss

Nearly two-thirds of men have significant hair loss by age 35, and 85 percent have lost a significant amount by age 50.

Women can also suffer from hair loss, with around a third experiencing female pattern baldness at some point in their lives.

Female pattern baldness is thought to be related to shifts in hormones related to menopause or other conditions.

Dr. Linkov did not comment on how to treat women, but doctors recommend minoxidil to thicken hair on the scalp. Women can also use finasteride, although it is not approved in the group for the treatment of baldness.

More than 2.4 million prescriptions for finasteride are written in the U.S. each year, although in some of those cases the drug may be prescribed to stop prostate enlargement.

It was initially used to treat this condition, until doctors also noticed that patients taking the drug had thicker heads of hair.

Dr. Linkov said there is a more powerful version of finasteride available, called dutasteride.

This works by blocking two enzymes that convert testosterone into a substance that causes hair to fall out: DHT. Finasteride only blocks one.

This means that while finasteride reduces DHT levels by 60 to 70 percent in most patients, dutasteride reduces them by more than 90 percent.

But Dr. Linkov said the more powerful version also poses more risks one small study finding more than three percent of patients had side effects such as decreased libido.

Other hair loss prevention drugs are currently being tested with names like KX-826, GT-20029, and RU58841.

But these are still in clinical trials and have not been approved for treating the condition.

The doctors also noted that trans women who received hormone replacement therapy also had their hair loss greatly reduced.

Derek said on the Peter Attia podcast: “Have you gotten back that hair you lost with this protocol? Expecting yourself to go back to baseline would be unrealistic.

“So thinking you’re going to reverse it in 10 years is usually unrealistic, but trying to prevent further loss – and add some degree of fullness… – can be helpful.”