Pill May Help Baldies Grow Their Hair Back

Balding men may soon be able to grow their hair back by popping a pill, the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. announced Sunday.

But a full head of hair may have a price men are unwilling to pay, the researchers said. Side effects include decreased libido and difficulty achieving erection.

Sixty-five percent of moderately balding men who took the drug Propecia daily for a year grew hair, compared with 37 percent of men who took a placebo, said Merck researcher Keith Kaufman, who presented the initial findings of his study at the American Academy of Dermatology convention.

The researchers, who tattooed a 1-inch circle on the scalps of the 1,550 men under age 45 in the study, found a 107-hair improvement among men taking Propecia, Kaufman said.