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.