Drug Companies Plan Male Contraceptive Pill

TamMan2000 writes "I can hear the trolls now, with their jokes about how nobody who reads slashdot will ever score... But, incase any of us ever do score the male pill could soon be a reality."

Comments

cool

[austad]

This is pretty neat, but it doesn't mention how it works. They've been experimenting with the male "shot", which is basically an injection of testosterone into your leg once a week. Apparently, it's quite painful, and has many side effects, like bad acne and more body hair. One good side effect is increased muscle mass, but this is simply a good reason to have it abused by weightlifters as most steroids either stimulate the production of testosterone, or simulate testosterone itself.

If the pill simply increases testosterone to insane levels like the shot does, it's simply a steroid and is going to have side effects similar to other steroids. When you supplement testosterone, your body stops making it's own, and that's part of the reason your nuts shrink.

My ex-gf wanted me to get the shot when it was released because she thought taking the pill was too inconvenient. I think going in for a painful shot once a week, bad acne, and lots of hair is probably more of an inconvenience. The female pill has been around for a long time, and it's side effects (good and bad) are fairly well understood. I think the acceptance rate of a male pill will likely be slow just because it will take awhile to prove itself, and if it does just increase testosterone levels, the side effects may not be worth it.

Re:Depo

[TamMan2000]

I assume you are talking about depo. It is nice for all the reasons you mentioned, but there is one important thing that is not there...

Decades of data. No studies on the long term effects of not having a period have ever been performed, the uterine lining is supposed to be flushed regularly, no body knows what leaving it in there like that does to the long term health of the uterus.

Re:May I recommend the injection?

[austad]

Depo seems to work well for some people, but I've known people who have gotten pregnant while on it, like towards the end of the 3 month time frame. Also, some of the girls have experienced weight gain that they did not experience while on the pill.

I know one person on Norplant, the implant in the arm that lasts for 6 years, and she loves it. No pills or shots, and it's been 100% effective for her so far.

As for not getting your period on Depo, simialar effects also happen with the pill if it's 100% progesterone. Most women who take the pill take one that has both progesterone and estrogen, which is more "fault tolerant" than the straight progesterone version so if she misses a day, it's not a big deal. The progesterone version must be taken within the same hour each day, or you are supposed to use some sort of backup method. Not getting a period is not necessarily a good thing either. While it may be convenient, it's not necessarily healthy. Some women have had problems with their period not starting again when they go off Depo, which can present major problems if they want to have kids.

Too bad vasectomies are not reversable, as that would be the safe way to go. Isn't the primary reason they are not reversable the fact that the sperm is dumped into the bloodstream and your body produces antobodies which then kill them? So if you have it reversed, your body still kills the little guys? Anyway, I'm no doctor, but I play one sometimes.