What percentage of baldies do you think are on treatments?

[Guest]

I've been wondering about this for awhile, so I thought I'd make a poll.

What percentage of guys do you think are on at least one of the following: finasteride, dutasteride, minoxidil.

I suspect that a much larger % of guys use minoxidil than use finasteride and dutasteride because 1) it's available over the counter and 2) it's much more well known.

Let's confine this to the US and other developed countries that have access to these medications. Otherwise it's kind of pointless.

I can almost guarantee you that the number is less than 15% because a lot of guys just give up and start shaving their head or don't even do that. So the poll runs in pairs of percentages up till 15%, then 15% and up.

Let's vote, and please respond in the thread as well.

MY guess, for the percentage of male pattern baldness sufferers who are on Rogaine is about 5%.

My guess for the percentage of male pattern baldness sufferers who are on Propecia is about 3%

My guess for the percentage of male pattern baldness sufferers who are on Avodart is less than half a percent.

My overall percentage guess for people on at least 1 of these three meds continuously(for longer than 3 months) at any one time is about 2%. So only 1 in 50 baldies actually does something SERIOUS about it. Other baldies may try procede, avacor or other sh*t treatments. They may be fooled into doing so. It may be more than 2% but I'm almost certain it's less than 5 or 6%. So we are the elite.


I didn';t include products like copper peps, RU, etc because then we'd be dealing in tenths of a percent or less in terms of the number of people that use them.
What do you think of these estimates? Let's hear it.

I COULD BE totally WRONG. These are just my estimates because I don't think there's any data out there. If there is, please post it.

 

[bubka]

I would say 5% tops, i think i read once that 500,000 men in the US use propecia... (over a million have tried it)... so thats out of 300,000,000 half are men, half are of age that would use the drug, and 66% will have male pattern baldness... so thats like 1% there... probably a little low end, then count in the rogain, and snake oils...

 

[Guest]

500,000 for propecia huh? Maybe we can throw in 50,000 on top of that who use Proscar for hair loss?

I heard the number is 1 million worldwide are taking it, from propeciapharmacy.com. So if 1 million worldwide are taking it then maybe 500,000 men in the US are as you said. And since Rogaine by itself does basically nothing, maybe 550,000-600,000 men in the country are on an oral 5ar inhibitor FOR the purpose of hair loss when you include the Avodart? I don't think 100,000 people are on Avodart if 500k are on propecia considering avodart isn't approved for hair loss. i think it's closer to 30,000. So let's say 530,000

So that's a really, really small percentage when you consider there are like 100 million baldies out there in the US. Less than 1% are doing something productive about their hair.

530,000/100000000= 0.53%

Wow. About 1 in 200 balding men in the US is actually on something strong to stop it. 1 in 200. And I said 3%. I way overestimated. Again, Rogaine is basically useless by itself so yeah.

All of us are very lucky that we know about this website. I thank my lucky stars every day that I noticed my hair thinning in June AND that I found this website. I just ran my hair through it and noticed. I wore my hair long so it was harder to notice. If I had continued to let it grow out I might not have noticed till I was a NW3 or NW4.

I might have started useless sh*t like Avacor or Procede instead of getting on Avodart. People who find this website or other ones like HLH or Hairsite don't realize how lucky they really are.

If we believe people on here, people who discover their balding at the NW2 stage or earlier and get on finasteride and then eventually switch to dutasteride will likely never get worse than NW4 in their lifetime. Then they can just get transplants to get back to NW1.5-2 when they are older. Very lucky.

 

[bubka]

i don't know, i would love to get some real stats on that, some merk sales reports :wink:

i know man, if merck or glaksco would just market the drug right, i would be a freaking cash cow, bigger than an ED drug i bet

its just the nostalgia and culture norms we have bout male pattern baldness, its not sexy... or sexy to talk about, sexy anything...

 

[Fallout Boy]

its got to be higher than 1 %

 

[Guest]

its got to be higher than 1 %

why? bubka and i both heard 500k of men in the us, so that's propecia. very very few people in the us are on dutasteride because it's not approved, and rogaine by itself does nothing. why is it so hard to believe that it's less than 1%?

especially with all the shitty infomercials out there that suck people in like avacor and procede?


i don't know who voted 15% and up but they need to lay off the pot haha. No way 15% of people in developed countries are on one of those 3 treatments.

 

[CCS]

for propecia, I think we should only count men who hit NW3 after 1998. I doubt a NW5 who is slick bald will see any point in getting on propecia, and should not be counted in this percentage, since the real question is how many people are doing something about saving their hair. So you can knock that 66% figure down to 30%, and look at guys between the ages of 17 and 50, and the ages cut the population down to maybe half again.

So 50% men x 50% of ages x 30% with male pattern baldness = 7.5% of US to include in survey, X 300,000,000 = 22,500,000 men. Now take your 500,000+ men and do your percentages.

 

[Phillip]

Seeing there is a significant number of nw6 and 7 out there i doubt those people are on treatments.


I have always wondered the same thing.

 

[Guest]

for propecia, I think we should only count men who hit NW3 after 1998. I doubt a NW5 who is slick bald will see any point in getting on propecia, and should not be counted in this percentage, since the real question is how many people are doing something about saving their hair. So you can knock that 66% figure down to 30%, and look at guys between the ages of 17 and 50, and the ages cut the population down to maybe half again.

So 50% men x 50% of ages x 30% with male pattern baldness = 7.5% of US to include in survey, X 300,000,000 = 22,500,000 men. Now take your 500,000+ men and do your percentages.

still only 2.2% of men with your constraints are on it. wow.

how many people you think are on avodart for hair loss in the us? 50,000?

 

[Apoc]

It depends on the country and age. In America I'd say 50% of people under 30 are on meds. In Europe only 10-20%.

 

[s.a.f]

Yeah there are so many ways that this question can be interpreted. I would guess that nearly every baldy tries some snake oil when they first start losing it and when that no doubt fails and they realise they've wasted £$ then they dont go back for more.
The older you are or the longer you've put up with baldness or the higher your Norwood the less likely it is for you to start a regime.
I'd guess that the most likley finasteride/dutasteride user would be an American nw2-3 aged 20-35.

 

[Skaff]

Interesting question...but for a judgement poll asking people to specify to the nearest percent is a bit much. It also depends on when they go bald...a 25 year old is more likely to seek treatment than a someone who is 45. While I'm on this point, I think anyone (male) over 40 who is on treatments needs a reality check.

 

[Guest]

It depends on the country and age. In America I'd say 50% of people under 30 are on meds. In Europe only 10-20%.

no way 50% of balding americans under 30 are on finasteride dutasteride or rogaine meds. that's a huge huge huge overestimate

 

[The Gardener]

I can't imagine that it would be higher than 4 or 5%. Most people with male pattern baldness just accept it, especially those who are married and have a stable personal life.

 

[Trebor]

You know what is interesting. I thought about this the other day when I saw a Bosley commercial. You see them all the time on TV, but I cant say that I have ever seen more than 2 or 3 Propecia commercials.

Maybe more guys are doing the hair transplant over meds. I think most guys will tell you... before they actually learn... that they are afraid of taking a drug over going to bosley or even wearing a rug.

 

[DonaldAnderson]

Yeah I think it is around 5%. Maybe lower. To alot it doesn't bother them enough that they would try one of those products. Ive made a thread like this before I think.

 

[Strat54]

None of my balding (bald) friends and family is doing something to combat hair loss.

And no one likes loosing their hair, and I mean no one. They just accepted it after suffering for years.

Most of my balding friends are now at Nw6 or 7. With treatment, maybe they could’ve stayed at Nw3.

Many people see ads from manufacturers and the first thing they think is “snake oil†or “too much hassle†or “to expensive†or “it only works at the vertexâ€.

If they bothered to visit forums like this one, or search the Internet, they could become educated about all the different treatments available and their pros and cons. It’s hard to make a decision just by watching a TV commercial.

And all of my friends and family have a computer with Internet access, and they could pay for any treatment available if they wanted to. Many people don’t want to be bothered with topicals, pills and possible side effects.

 

[s.a.f]

This is true many guys who are settled down, married with kids cant justify the expense. (Their wives would rather spend the money on something important like soft furnishings or a new pair of shoes!) Most of the guys on here are young and concerned that hairloss will impact on their ability to attract women.
Developments in the feild of hairloss have only really taken off in the past 4/5 yrs. How many people knew about dutasteride or finasteride in the 90's? hair transplant's have also improved greatly in recent years.

 

[Guest]

Developments in the feild of hairloss have only really taken off in the past 4/5 yrs. How many people knew about dutasteride or finasteride in the 90's? hair transplant's have also improved greatly in recent years.

Don't forget Procede and Avacor. :lol:

 

[Nathaniel]

You'd be amazed, I was reading somewhere it was around 2-3% of balding/bald men....don't ask me how they got this figure but I think it was in the news or something where I saw this number.