President Trump personal physician, Harold Bornstein, revealed that Trump uses drugs to treat three different ailments. One of them is finasteride, which is a prostate drug that can be used as a treatment for hair-loss.
Bornstein has been Trump’s doctor for several years. He had already said via telephone that Trump tends to take a daily baby aspirin to reduce the risks of a heart attack. However, he recently decided to speak to the press to reveal the hidden drugs Trump takes to treat his hair loss problem, to reduce cholesterol and to treat rosacea, a skin problem.
The Truth behind Trump’s hair is revealed
As it was reported by Dr. Bornstein, Trump takes a couple of drugs people did not know anything about. Apparently, the President takes antibiotics to control rosacea and statin for elevated blood cholesterol and lipids. Trump’s doctor had already said he takes an aspirin a day to reduce the risks of cardiovascular problems.
However, the drug that is worrying people the most is the finasteride, which in Trump’s case is used to treat male pattern baldness. His consumption of this drug was purposely hidden from the public.
Nonetheless, Dr. Bornstein said that Trump’s health is very good. While Trump was campaigning, he and Bornstein made separate medical disclosures that intended to show that Trump could be in fact the healthiest president in the history of the U.S, though he is also the oldest one. Bornstein said he consumes 81mg of statin a day, and this was reaffirmed when Trump was a guest on the popular show ‘Dr. Oz’.
Oz congratulated Trump for his health, saying he would be happy if his patients had Trump’s medical records. However, Trump is now criticized for hiding the other drugs he is taking because when he was in the TV show he had plenty of occasions to mention all the drugs he was taking, but he didn’t mention finasteride at any moment.
The side effects of Finasteride
Trump has been secretive about a few things including his tax returns and now his medical history. Maybe all of it has a reason. Finasteride is a drug marketed as Propecia.
Finasteride inhibits the steroids responsible for converting testosterone into 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It was approved 19 years ago to treat hair-loss. Several studies have concluded that Propecia has many side effects and that avoiding losing hair is not enough reason to take it.
“Changes related to the urogenital system in terms of semen quality and decreased ejaculate volume, reduction in penis size, penile curvature or reduced sensation, fewer spontaneous erections, decreased testicular size, testicular pain, and prostatitis,” noted a 2013 study in Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed concerning post-finasteride syndrome. Finasteride causes a disconnection between the mental and the physical aspects of sexual function. It also is related to effects on cognition, mood and mental states of the patients.In 2010, depression was added to labels as a side effect too. In 2014, a study published in the ‘Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’ concluded that side effects of finasteride continued even after they stopped the treatment.
Source: The Washington Post