I just don't want people getting lulled into a false sense of security that ALL the side effects of Finasteride are merely due to 'neurosteroids'. Even without that, blocking DHT systemically WILL be a problem, and you do not want that. You don't need to look very far to see what androgen deprivation does to a man. Simply look at the side effect profile of ANY androgen receptor antagonist, i.e. bicalutamide:
"In men, due to androgen deprivation, a variety of side effects of varying severity may occur during bicalutamide treatment, with breast pain/tenderness and gynecomastia (breast development/enlargement) being the most common.[84][85] Gynecomastia occurs in up to 80% of men treated with bicalutamide monotherapy, though is of only mild-to-moderate severity in more than 90% of affected men.[85][86] In addition to breast changes, physical feminization and demasculinization in general, including reduced body hair growth, decreased muscle mass and strength, feminine changes in fat mass and distribution, reduced penile length, and decreased semen/ejaculate volume, may occur in men.[84][87][18][88] Other side effects that have been observed in men and that are similarly related to androgen deprivation include hot flashes, sexual dysfunction (e.g., loss of libido, erectile dysfunction), depression, fatigue, weakness, and anemia."
Now, to be fair, androgen receptor antagonists block ALL androgens, whereas S-Equol would merely bind up DHT, and is likely nowhere near as strong as pharmaceutical AR blockers.
Still, DHT is a very important hormone and this is why we need to hope that not a lot of this drug goes systemic - it's really high time that we stop putting our sexual functioning and being male in general as an acceptable compromise for hair growth.