Ibuprofen Linked To Male Infertility, Study Says (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Men who take high doses of ibuprofen for months at a time may be at greater risk of fertility issues and also other health problems, such as muscle wastage, erectile dysfunction and fatigue, scientists have found. Research on healthy young men who took the common painkiller for up to six weeks showed that the drug disrupted the production of male sex hormones and led to a condition normally seen in older men and smokers. The 18 to 35-year-olds who took part in the study developed a disorder called "compensated hypogonadism" within two weeks of having 600mg of ibuprofen twice a day. The condition arises when the body has to boost levels of testosterone because normal production in the testes has fallen. Doctors in Copenhagen who led the study said that while the disorder was mild and temporary in the volunteers, they feared it could become permanent in long-term ibuprofen users. This would lead to continuously low levels of testosterone, because the body could no longer compensate for the fall. Details of the study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Comments

Not tonight, I have a headache

[Anonymous Coward]

so much for that excuse gents.

What about other NSAIDs?

[Only Time Will Tell]

I am curious if this effect is limited to ibuprofen or if other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Aleve (naproxen) or ketoprofen affect male reproduction as well. I'm sure there will be additional studies, but if these effects are repeated, they will likely be discontinued given they already have the propensity for stomach ulcers and other side effects.

Re:What about other NSAIDs?

[hairyfeet]

People who are taking NSAIDs like Ibuprophen for a long period of time aren't doing it for fun or minor boo boos, they are in serious pain. So this is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

Take myself for example, I have to take NSAIDs because I bounced down a two lane at 65 MPH+ when a dog ran out in front of my bike when I was 16. The docs told me then that even though I didn't break any bones the amount of damage to the joints caused by the impact would mean later in life I would be seriously suffering and they are right, when the weather is cold or damp it feels like someone is jamming needles into my knees and wrists and the swelling makes even simple tasks seriously hard.

Now do I like hearing this about Ibuprofen? No but frankly I'd rather go to my doc and ask her whether I should get testosterone than not be able to walk or use my hands. Without NSAIDs my knee and wrist joints simply do not work, even if you took away the pain the inflammation would keep me from doing much. Tylenol can help with the pain but does squat for the swelling, aspirin can cause serious bleeding, out of the current choices we have ibuprofen and naproxen are probably the safest bets for the millions of us who have serious joint damage and which are not good candidates for joint replacement.

Re:What about other NSAIDs?

[jedidiah]

NSAIDs aren't the thing you take for "serious" pain.

They will also destroy your other organs if you treat them like candy over long periods of time.

Pretty much any drug taken regularly will do this and you need to be under sufficient medical supervision to ensure this doesn't happen. Pretty much every drug needs to be treated as harmful by default and we tend to take the exact opposite view as a society.

Re:What about other NSAIDs?

[s122604]

I would doubt it very seriously. Yes this is a side effect, but many would not care. Women, men using it temporarily, men who simply would rather live with the side effect than remain in pain.
As a side note, I think I remember reading some research that semi regular use of NSAIDs is actually linked to a lower risk of dementia

There is no such thing, as a completely safe, non addicting, highly effective pain reliever. If such a thing is ever developed it would revolutionize medicine and make it's inventor billions.

Re:What about other NSAIDs?

[Reziac]

The symptom set described in TFS screams "thyroid impact" -- at a guess, it accelerates the natural decline of thyroid production, leading to the assorted side effects (including testosterone deficiency). Meaning it should be treatable the same way you'd deal with ordinary hypothyroidism.

Anyone over 50 should have an annual thyroid profile anyway (the whole set, not just TSH test). Most of what we attribute to "aging" is actually age-related hypothyroidism. For any chronic condition, ALWAYS look at thyroid first, it affects *everything*, and fixing it will make a host of apparently-unrelated conditions go away without further treatment.

[I sound like a broken record about this, but it's really frustrating to have read reams of research and realise that almost none of it has trickled down to medical practice, let alone been considered where it may impact other research.]

Shit!

[drinkypoo]

That sounded great for a second, until they got to ED. I'd love to be cheaply infertile, but I want my pecker to work, if not my gonads.

Re:Shit!

[Aaden42]

One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small.

(And if Mother's the one who's giving them to you, you have other problems.)

Now you tell me?

[Jethro]

This would have been useful information 20 or so years ago...

Re:Therapeutic Dosage Range

[burtosis]

Now, with this result, are we back to aspirin?

You must be new to American healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, you simply don't stop taking something like ibuprofen just because your testosterone levels may become permanently damaged. That would be stupid, but more impotently, it would wreak havoc on stockholder returns. No, the impudent thing to do is to simply keep taking it and add an additional drug to block the side effects that is patented and protected. Being able to skyrocket the price of a 12 cent generic medication, that nearly all Americans take and many rely on, to over 17 dollars is sheer financial genius and a winning example of what you can achieve with capitalism in charge of healthcare.

Re:Did they use soldiers?

[dwillden]

Joke? That's no joke, it's medical care in the military. Go to the Medics, get Motrin. Who cares that it was for a cold or a sprain or a missing limb. The wonder drug cures all, or at least lets the medics feel like they did something.

Re:Now What

[DickBreath]

Since every sperm is sacred, you should not take NSAIDS, but just suffer with the pain. And get rid of your cell phone. Or only operate it in airplane mode -- I mean, your phone, not your, um, other equipment. Getting rid of your phone would take away the distraction from the toy that males are supposed to play with.

clickbait headline

[TheGratefulNet]

look, 1200mg is VERY high dosage!

I take 2 200mg pills every day, matter of course, for joint pain (I'm over 50) and at first, I was concerned, but when I read the dosage they were taking, I 'stopped reading there' (as the kids say).

slash is getting so sleazy these days.

the correct headline is: MASSIVE dosage of advil can cause problems. leave out the adjective and the article is a lie.

typical of slash and media these days. accuracy never matters anymore, just clicks. sigh.

Re:clickbait headline

[hawkfish]

look, 1200mg is VERY high dosage!

I take 2 200mg pills every day, matter of course, for joint pain (I'm over 50) and at first, I was concerned, but when I read the dosage they were taking, I 'stopped reading there' (as the kids say).

slash is getting so sleazy these days.

the correct headline is: MASSIVE dosage of advil can cause problems. leave out the adjective and the article is a lie.

typical of slash and media these days. accuracy never matters anymore, just clicks. sigh.

It depends on how sensitive you are to the drug. When I broke my collarbone about 30 years ago, they gave me some codeine, which made me throw up. The fallback was to take 100mg of ibuprofen every hour (2400mg/day) for about a week. Ever since then, I've had to take 800mg just to get rid of a headache. I've tried 600mg and it doesn't work (FWIW I weigh about 190# and am pretty active).

So while you may be lucky enough to get by on 400mg/day, not everyone can.

Re:clickbait headline

[xfade551]

That number 1200mg sounds like ridiculously high dosage, until you realize it's typical for U.S. military physicians to prescribe a dosage of an 800mg pill x 3-4 times/day. Same goes for discharged veterans getting medical care from VA hospitals.

Two birds with one stone

[mschuyler]

Sounds like it takes care of two headaches at once.

Re:Therapeutic Dosage Range

[burtosis]

Your comment, a logically incoherent rant that seems primarily aimed at hitting all the squares of "mod me up!" buzzword bingo, does not contribute to it.

Thank you for your droll review of my word craft. The OP really did seem to be unaware of how things work here, and an incoherent rant primarily aimed at hitting all the squares of "mod me up!" buzzword bingo, as it relates to the article, was not only what I intended, but is actually succinct, only slightly hyperbolic simile.