Pharmacology

 

This picture is doing the rounds at the moment, in which Elon Musk can be seen clearly exhibiting gynaecomastia. 

He is known to have had male pattern hair loss from quite a young age. He's also known to have had hair transplant, so the hair loss is assuredly something he's sensitive about. It's likely that he is, in view of this, also taking Finasteride. 

Finasteride is a drug that has been around for a long time, having originally been developed to treat Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy. It is a long term treatment. It was discovered that it can counter male pattern baldness with up to 80% of affected men seeing some hair regeneration with long term use.

But in pharmacology there's no such thing as a free lunch. Finasteride is a Testosterone inhibitor and there are potential side effects. These include loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, and gynaecomastia.

The late Chuck Jones once said, "A fanatic is one who redoubles his efforts when he has lost sight of the original objective." In his efforts to project an image of youth and vitality Mr Musk may well have been hoist by his own petard.