Treatments and supplements · Spironolactone

Does spironolactone help with hair loss or unwanted hair?

What we can tell you today: how thoroughly this has been studied.

Well studied

8 studies, including one that brings together the results of several trials in people.

5 Repeated evidence 1 study

3 Small study in people 7 studies

This says how thoroughly something has been studied — not whether it works for you. What each study actually found is in the study itself, and in the plain-language write-ups we are adding.

Appears under: Hair and nails

The studies

5 Repeated evidence Association of Spironolactone Use With Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
2022 · JAMA dermatology
3 Small study in people Combined oral contraceptives plus spironolactone compared with metformin in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a one-year randomized clinical trial.
2017 · European journal of endocrinology · 22 participants
3 Small study in people In PCOS patients the addition of low-dose spironolactone induces a more marked reduction of clinical and biochemical hyperandrogenism than metformin alone.
2014 · Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NM · 28 participants
3 Small study in people Spironolactone as a single agent for long-term therapy of hirsute patients.
2000 · Clinical endocrinology · 23 participants
3 Small study in people A prospective randomized trial comparing finasteride to spironolactone in the treatment of hirsute women.
1995 · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 9 participants
3 Small study in people Spironolactone, but not flutamide, administration prevents bone loss in hyperandrogenic women treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist.
1999 · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 15 participants
3 Small study in people Endocrine and clinical effects of spironolactone in female hyperandrogenism.
1987 · Archives of gynecology
3 Small study in people The effect of combined oral contraception with or without spironolactone on bone mineral density of hyperandrogenic women.
2001 · Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of t · 22 participants