Donald Trump Uses Finasteride Hair Loss Treatment Says His Doctor
The controversial 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, has always been known for his unique hair loss hiding hairstyle, even before entering politics.
Seemingly keen for people to touch his hair to prove it is real, the Republican's doctor has now revealed that Trump uses a well-known hair loss treatment drug to help him keep his hair. This admission comes after rumours of flap surgery and hair transplants have dogged the former reality TV star for many years.
The New York Times published an interview with Trump's 'longtime doctor', Harold Bornstein, who confirmed The Donald's use of finasteride 1mg. Although developed as a treatment for prostate conditions, in smaller 1mg daily doses - taken via an oral tablet - this drug was discovered to help combat male pattern baldness.
The newspaper reports: 'Dr. Bornstein said he also took finasteride and credited it for helping maintain his own shoulder-length hair and Mr. Trump’s hair. “He has all his hair,” Dr. Bornstein said. “I have all my hair”.'
The information provided by Dr. Bornstein to the New York Times has been widely reported internationally, with finasteride being referred to as a 'hair growth drug'. However, this terminology is slightly misleading.
Finasteride, when taken as a 1mg-per-day dose as opposed to the 5mg per day used to treat an enlarged prostate, has been clinically-proven to treat male pattern baldness. It does this not by encouraging hair growth per se, but rather by inhibiting production of the enzyme - dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - which causes this hereditary hair loss in men with a genetic predisposition towards this condition.
How DHT Shrinks Hair Follicles
DHT causes hair along the top of the scalp and hairline to gradually thin by binding itself to hair follicles in these areas and slowly weakening them. This leads to increasingly thinning hair and can cause baldness. Therefore, by preventing DHT from binding to the follicles in this way, finasteride 1mg does not promote hair growth as such, it simply prevents hair loss from occurring in the first place.
Finasteride 1mg is one of two MHRA licensed and FDA approved hair loss treatments for male pattern baldness. The other is high strength minoxidil which comes in topical formulations which are applied directly to the scalp.
At 70 years of age at the time of his swearing in, Donald Trump is the oldest American President to take office. As such, there have been concerns about his health. In December 2015 and September 2016 Dr. Bornstein sought to allay these fears by writing letters of health for Mr. Trump, both of which were released to the press. This led to rumours about Donald Trump's Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels.
According to the New York Times article, "In both letters, Dr. Bornstein wrote that Mr. Trump’s PSA level was 0.15. The low number led urologists not connected with Mr. Trump to say that he must have been treated for an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer. But Dr. Bornstein said in the interviews that Mr. Trump had had neither ailment and that his PSA level is low because of Propecia."
Propecia is one of many brand names for finasteride 1mg and was the first brand name the drug was released under in its capacity as a male hair loss treatment. This medication is now available under a number of different brand names since Propecia's manufacturers, Merck, lost its exclusivity rights to the drug in October 2014.
Seemingly keen for people to touch his hair to prove it is real, the Republican's doctor has now revealed that Trump uses a well-known hair loss treatment drug to help him keep his hair. This admission comes after rumours of flap surgery and hair transplants have dogged the former reality TV star for many years.
Hair growth drug reports
The New York Times published an interview with Trump's 'longtime doctor', Harold Bornstein, who confirmed The Donald's use of finasteride 1mg. Although developed as a treatment for prostate conditions, in smaller 1mg daily doses - taken via an oral tablet - this drug was discovered to help combat male pattern baldness.
The newspaper reports: 'Dr. Bornstein said he also took finasteride and credited it for helping maintain his own shoulder-length hair and Mr. Trump’s hair. “He has all his hair,” Dr. Bornstein said. “I have all my hair”.'
The information provided by Dr. Bornstein to the New York Times has been widely reported internationally, with finasteride being referred to as a 'hair growth drug'. However, this terminology is slightly misleading.
Finasteride, when taken as a 1mg-per-day dose as opposed to the 5mg per day used to treat an enlarged prostate, has been clinically-proven to treat male pattern baldness. It does this not by encouraging hair growth per se, but rather by inhibiting production of the enzyme - dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - which causes this hereditary hair loss in men with a genetic predisposition towards this condition.
DHT causes hair along the top of the scalp and hairline to gradually thin by binding itself to hair follicles in these areas and slowly weakening them. This leads to increasingly thinning hair and can cause baldness. Therefore, by preventing DHT from binding to the follicles in this way, finasteride 1mg does not promote hair growth as such, it simply prevents hair loss from occurring in the first place.
Finasteride 1mg is one of two MHRA licensed and FDA approved hair loss treatments for male pattern baldness. The other is high strength minoxidil which comes in topical formulations which are applied directly to the scalp.
Prostate health connection
At 70 years of age at the time of his swearing in, Donald Trump is the oldest American President to take office. As such, there have been concerns about his health. In December 2015 and September 2016 Dr. Bornstein sought to allay these fears by writing letters of health for Mr. Trump, both of which were released to the press. This led to rumours about Donald Trump's Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels.
According to the New York Times article, "In both letters, Dr. Bornstein wrote that Mr. Trump’s PSA level was 0.15. The low number led urologists not connected with Mr. Trump to say that he must have been treated for an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer. But Dr. Bornstein said in the interviews that Mr. Trump had had neither ailment and that his PSA level is low because of Propecia."
Propecia is one of many brand names for finasteride 1mg and was the first brand name the drug was released under in its capacity as a male hair loss treatment. This medication is now available under a number of different brand names since Propecia's manufacturers, Merck, lost its exclusivity rights to the drug in October 2014.
The Belgravia Centre
The Belgravia Centre is a world-renowned group of a hair loss clinic in Central London, UK. If you are worried about hair loss you can arrange a free consultation with a hair loss expert or complete our Online Consultation from anywhere in the world for home-use treatment.
View our Hair Loss Success Stories, which includes the world's largest gallery of hair growth photos and demonstrates the level of success that so many of Belgravia's patients achieve.
