Today’s big topic: It can cause impotence and suicidal thoughts. Yet hair-loss drugs are booming

What’s happening?

In just a few years, the use of a controversial drug for common male hair loss has exploded.

That has now prompted the Danish Medicines Agency to urge doctors who prescribe it, and men who want to medically stave off hair loss, to remember that this potent substance also potentially has a range of troubling side effects.

Most men naturally get thinner on top over time, but for some, it can be such a psychological burden that they seek medical help.

The best-documented medication for hair loss contains the active ingredient finasteride and is sold under names such as Propecia.

Why it matters!

The drug, which is approved for men ages 18 to 41, comes with serious side effects as well: Up to 1 in 100 experience reduced libido, impotence, or melancholy mood, according to the Danish Medicines Agency, and, more seriously, depression and anxiety, which have been reported more rarely and therefore cannot be stated in absolute numbers.

In June last year, the European Medicines Agency’s side-effects committee went a step further and issued a direct warning about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts, even though it occurs very, very rarely. At the same time, it was decided that a patient card must be included in the package informing patients that they should stop taking the medicine and seek a doctor if they experience psychological effects.

But that’s not all. On the leaflet in the Danish package, it is stated that women should not take the drug at all, and women who are or may become pregnant »must not touch crushed or broken tablets«, because they can absorb the active ingredient through the mouth or skin, which could »cause malformations of the genital organs in male fetuses«.

Despite its effect on hair loss, the list of side effects raises the question of whether a drug like this should be allowed at all. But the Danish Medicines Agency believes the medicine should remain available.

Still curious? Read the full article here.

In other news

– Doctors, psychologists and Danish Regions warn against the government’s control bill

Employers in the health care system and large swaths of professional health personnel across the country are slamming on the brakes over one of the oversight tools the government, in a bill, wants to hand to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, PET, in the fight against terrorism and radicalization. The issue is a provision in the control bill that, put simply, states that »people convicted of terrorism and those who have been radicalized may be ordered to take part in psychiatric or psychological treatment«.

The order is one of a series of preventive control measures the government wants to equip the intelligence service with in a forthcoming law, which also includes residence bans, monitoring with electronic ankle bracelets, restrictions on access to the internet and mobile phones, and mandatory reporting requirements.

– Mayor wants to lower Copenhagen’s speed limit to 30 km/h

The speed limit on roads and bike lanes across most of Copenhagen should be reduced to 30 kilometers an hour. That is the view of Line Barfod (Enhedslisten, Ø), the city’s mayor for climate, environment and technical affairs. »It should be an even better experience to be a cyclist in Copenhagen. It makes a big difference to bring car speeds down across large parts of the city, just as is happening in many other major European cities«.

It would take a change in national law to lower the speed limits. The mayor says she plans to raise such a change with the new transport minister. The speed limit should also apply on bike lanes, she says. The hope is that it would lead fast e-bikes and mopeds to slow down.

– Tourists on bicycles singled out as a problem by Copenhagen’s Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor, Sisse Marie Welling (SF), writes on Facebook: »I completely understand the frustration. All those wobbling tourists« ... »they (must) of course not make traffic feel unsafe«. And then she rolled out the heavy artillery: Tourists should get a cycling license before they swing a leg over the saddle, and ideally they should also be required to wear a bike helmet.

Politiken’s debate editor, Susan Knorrenborg writes, ironically, that cycling tourists are to Copenhageners what curious wolves are to the people of Jutland. And when Danes feel uneasy, it’s a good thing we have decisive, courageous politicians. Read Susan Knorrenborg’s entire piece here.

Talk of town: More Danish homes are being used as illegal shadow hotels

Foto: Thomas Borberg

The number of homes in Danish cities that are being illegally used as so-called ‘shadow hotels’ is growing. It’s impossible to say how quickly, since these activities are, by their nature, hidden from public view.

But this increasingly common practice hurts ordinary people looking for housing, who can’t find apartments, and the hotels that both pay taxes and are required to comply with laws and regulations.

It is a provocation to the many residents who struggle to find a roof over their heads at a reasonable rent, and it distorts competition for established hotels, which, unlike these illegally rented rooms, must comply with costly rules and laws.

It is particularly in Copenhagen and the biggest cities that apartments are being used for short-term rentals. It’s a business model organized by companies that make good money from it. But the revenue from shadow hotels is hidden from plain sight.

For hotels, illegal rentals are a threat that is taken seriously. Because alongside their industry, the well-organized shadow hotels operate with swarms of key boxes on the buildings being used and delivery of fresh, clean linens every morning, as if it were an ordinary hotel.

Read the full story here.

This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.