Most guys function well on finasteride despite the horror stories, although there is definitely a risk.
There are new treatments in the horizon, wnt based stuff like what the company histogen is developing. These have already been proven to be effective in studies too.
Go to http://www.balanceha...-stem-cells.pdf or www.histogen.com for examples. Also the companies follica and replicel both have very promising treatments. The keyword for all these == no messing with DHT and most likely a better potential for regrowth than finasteride and/or minox.
With some of these treatments you could probably halt hairloss and regrow hair over time with one or a few rounds of injections a year (after an initial loading phase) instead of taking fina every day.
-> The only problem is that there seems to be a hair-loss-cure equivivalent to "development hell". I'm pretty sure that some of these cures can be reproduced with a group-buy type effort, and being the first to sell a real effective hair-loss cure would mean $$$$$ for that person/organization. Having some of the resident providers of "future medicines" getting into this market would be a great win/win for them and many ppl who are genetically programmed to go bald (including many many women who are poor responders to dht based treatments).
Your genes sets a framework for a lot of your life, things you can do, things you cannot do ect, and hairloss is one of those things that equals a disadvantage for almost everyone who is affected by it without providing any advantages in return (especially when it starts @ an early age). One of the great promises of technological advancement and transhumanism is the ability to override the effect of such randomly selected genetical disadvantages that sets the tone for your life, and instead replacing it with the ability to decide what you want regardless of what nature selected for you. THAT is REAL freedom!
There are some people who benefit from 5-ARI's, but it's a matter of how much suppression, by what compound and your genetic determinants. Some people have over the top DHT levels to begin with, so much they aren't receiving some of the anabolic effects of Testosterone. However, this is rare in most of the population; in which there is a significant decline in total Testosterone and DHT in comparison with years ago. There are so many anti-androgen compounds (both natural and pharma), but one thing that always bothered me, is that these same AA compounds or chemicals that have that effect, are often promoted for the wrong reasons, and tend not to inform people the possible negative side-effects.
Also there are a lot of bodybuilding supplements; namely Testosterone boosters that contain DIM (Dindolymethane) - a chemical found in Broccoli that can mildly inhibit Estrogen -->Estradiol conversion. - that neglect to mention that DIM (although slightly anti estrogenic) can also act as an anti-androgen.
In fact, out of many of the anti-estrogen products out there, I've only found three (but only tried 8) that had significant effects on my bloodwork (estrogen levels). I do a lot of things for testing/experimentations sake - and hope to expose some of the arbitrary ingredients and sales pitch's gone too far.
The three "natural AI's" that I have found to have not only effect on my bloodwork, but also overall well-being are.
1.) PES Erase Pro
2.) DS Nutrition Triazole
3.) iForce Nutrition Intimidate SRT
Sad, but true.