Zeta Channel Rules • FAQ • Search • advertise
General Statistics
Total Posts: 277077
Total Topics: 4690
Online Today: 28
Online Ever: 127, on March 13, 2007, 12:56:10 PM
Users Online
Totals
Users: 9
Guests: 7
Total: 16
Poll: What're your feelings about the male pill?
I dunno/Whatever/I don't like sex anyway. - 22 (44.9%)
I am male and I'd not use it. - 2 (4.1%)
I am female and I'd like men to use it. - 19 (38.8%)
I am female and I'd not like men to use it. - 2 (4.1%)
I dunno/Whatever/I don't like sex anyway. - 4 (8.2%)
Total Voters: 47

Index
» Debate » the Male Pill
 Pages: [1] 2 3 4
Tamsin    Topic opened April 28, 2006, 07:55:12 PM
Administrator
Renown: +32/-1
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,922

Snarky hedgehog
I came across this and my first thought was, "Yay! Finally the burden of prescription copays and remembering to take the damn thigns won't rest just on me!" and my next was, "Nice, the boyfriend once told me he'd take the male pill in a blink if it was available."

And then I remembered hearing that American insurance companies had said they'd not cover it as a given the way they do the pill for women. But I couldn't find anything specific about this, and it seems pretty silly, right?

So I asked people I knew. Quite a few men said they'd take it in a heartbeat, but they could see why other men might be wary of such a thing. This surprised me.

Now, why is this? Why would many men feel nervous about taking a contraceptive pill, when as far as I can see most women are not? And how do people here feel about it?

Here's the article in question.
Quote
Effect of male pill could be reversed in months: study
Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:02am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Men given a hormone-based contraceptive, which could be available in the near future, can regain their fertility about four months after stopping the treatment, researchers said on Friday.

Drug companies have been working on a male pill or injection to inhibit sperm production and give couples a greater choice of family planning methods.

Scientists who analyzed studies involving men who had been given the contraceptives in trials found the treatments were highly effective but reversible.

"Hormonal male contraceptive methods could soon become widely available," said Peter Liu from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

"These findings thereby increase the promise of new contraceptive drugs allowing men to share more fairly the satisfaction and burden of family planning," he added in the report published in The Lancet medical journal.

Large-scale trials of male hormone-based contraceptives are being conducted in China and Europe, according to the scientists.

Liu and his team analyzed data on 1,500 men who had taken part in 30 trials which had been published between 1990-2005. Their sperm production had been monitored each month until their sperm count hit 20 million per mL (milliliter), which is considered fertile.

The researchers said various factors, including age, original sperm count, duration of treatment and ethnic origin, could influence the recovery rate.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Logged
For further information, consult your pineal gland.
Barefoot Tea-mistress
S_C Reply #1 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 28, 2006, 08:03:29 PM
Renown: +44/-4
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,627
Male pill = teh good.
Logged
I must be the most frequently "almost sigged" person on the forum. - Fixer


And in the end, know that if you let your penis do your thinking for you, you will end up being just a dick. - IridiumFleas
007bistromath Reply #2 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 28, 2006, 08:05:06 PM
Renown: +118/-92
Offline Offline

Posts: 4,604

Left his attack boots in China
The reason that comes to my mind as to why a dude would want to avoid it is that it's not known whether it has any lasting effects. (Not speaking just of fertility.) The female reproductive system is cyclical, and their pill is meant to change that cycle's regulation. That is something that is easily understood, and easy to believe just goes away when you don't want it to be there anymore. The male reproductive system, on the other hand, is always on. Because this is a new development there is little info available to not-doctors about how it works and whether it does any damage. If it is a hormone-based thing, like it is for the women-folk, there could also be the worry that there will be unexpected changes to mood or personality which, due to the always-on-ness of a pair of testicles, wouldn't just sit around for a few days and then fuck off like they do for a lady.

I'd still snatch it up, though.
Last Edit: April 28, 2006, 08:07:26 PM by 007bistromath Logged
The internet is a joke. And facebook is the punchline. - Bunner
Pixie Reply #3 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 28, 2006, 10:15:54 PM
Renown: +87/-2
Offline Offline

Posts: 5,583

Beldaran
I'd be a little nervous... the female pill only has to stop one egg a month, but with the male one, that's a lot of sperm to inhibit, considering it only takes one for a baby.

Of course, I know these things are thoroughly tested, and it's most likely all in my head. Just like that thing of not wanting a computer flying a plane. Wink

I think it'd be great, though, as extra security. No method of contraception is 100% perfect, but if both partners are taking the pill, then you're pretty much covered for if one of them fails, or if say one partner forgets to take it one day.
Logged

I think this weight was a gift, like I had to see what I could lift.
94273_mr._artist.png12595_mr._tester.png
sinic Reply #4 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 28, 2006, 10:37:26 PM
Certified Organic
Renown: +125/-14
Offline Offline

Posts: 7,231

Slack.
I won't take it.  At least not yet.

Call me paranoid, but I think there needs to be at least a generation or two worth of data on this (though that does likely already exist in rats [anyone have that data available?]).  As Bistro said men don't have a hormonal "off" switch.  The testicles and sperm cells are some of the most rapidly producing cells in the body and as such I don't feel all that great about just putting the chemie brakes on them.  Luckily after spending nearly a decade working in a chem lab I'm probably sterile anyways so there's nothing to worry about.1  Wink





1 - Totally (mostly) kidding.  I'm most likely still as strong and verile as a 15 year old with the newest issue of Penthouse.   Woof!
Logged
"When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other." -Eric Hoffer

House has a posse.
Puppy cam is:  Offline

12595_mr._tester.png
lil_poiple_ash Reply #5 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 01:35:41 AM
Renown: +36/-0
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,346

Boobbah is watching you
I'm looking forward to the male pill coming out.

I'm not really meant to be on hormonal contraceptive because of my health problems. Right now I use the low hormone slow release ring...

But it would still be best if I wasn't putting any hormones into my system.

That being said. I wont be pressing my sometimesbetter half into running to get a prescription filled just yet.
Logged
"The truth about stories is that that's all we are" - Thomas King
"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking." - I donno
Dral Reply #6 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 01:41:27 AM
Renown: +19/-0
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,006

Unnatural Blond
Meh. I think it's a nice idea, but were I a woman, I certainly wouldn't trust a guy if they just said they were on the pill.

In a long term relationship, fine - particularly if both parties are on the pill. But other than that? It's just another excuse not to wear a condom.

 Mystic Dral predicts a rise in pregnancy and STDs.
Logged
Memes do not exist. Tell your friends.
Bunner Reply #7 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 05:00:20 AM
Administrator
Renown: +150/-3
Online Online

Posts: 6,722

Wolpertinger > Bunnicula
Quote from: Dral on April 29, 2006, 01:41:27 AM
Meh. I think it's a nice idea, but were I a woman, I certainly wouldn't trust a guy if they just said they were on the pill.

Y'know, I think there are a number of fellas out there who think that way, only vice-versa.
I know *I* wouldn't feel entirely comfortable if a woman told me she was just on the pill.
But then, I have this overwhelming irrational terror of incubating larvae.

Gypsy Bunner predicts maybe a few more cases of pregnancy due to people not using the damn thing properly, and certainly a few extra cases of STDs, as there are still some folks out there who don't quite understand that contraceptive pills =!= protection from STDs. No, really.
Logged
I've got more issues than National Geographic.
89649_mr._bugfinder.png
S*S Reply #8 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 05:44:36 AM
Game Master
Renown: +182/-69
Offline Offline

Posts: 5,942
Are we talking about that horrible male pill, that also requires an injection directly into your penis?

If so, no.
Logged
...It's JOHNNY. Jeepers, how hard do you think it is to distract him?  It's like, more difficult to distract a kitten. -Majestrix
Most [political] problems are the product of complex conditions. They require trade-offs and policy expertise. They are not solvable through the mere assertion of sterling character.
What are good/neutral things about me?/Bad things about me?
8833_mr._gm.png
007bistromath Reply #9 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 12:52:06 PM
Renown: +118/-92
Offline Offline

Posts: 4,604

Left his attack boots in China
Woah, what the fuck? Yeah, screw that. If I have to get a shot in my dick then, in the immortal words of Todd T. T. T. T. Squirrel, bitches gotta take their cunt pills.
Logged
The internet is a joke. And facebook is the punchline. - Bunner
Symmetry Reply #10 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 01:48:43 PM
I've donated. Why haven't you?
Renown: +4/-0
Offline Offline

Posts: 860

安堵竜
I'd take it.  I think I trust that the FDA tends toward overcaution in general and that there wouldn't be any permenant bad effects.  Since it works hormonaly, any side effects probably vary a lot by person, so if my SO had noticably less side effects I might want to stop taking it, but I'd assume the opposite would apply too.
Logged
'Because ten billion years' time is so fragile, so ephemeral... it arouses such a bittersweet, almost heartbreaking fondness.'
S_C Reply #11 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 29, 2006, 11:54:02 PM
Renown: +44/-4
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,627
S*S and Bistro, this is an oral hormonal contraceptive they're talking about.
Logged
I must be the most frequently "almost sigged" person on the forum. - Fixer


And in the end, know that if you let your penis do your thinking for you, you will end up being just a dick. - IridiumFleas
TIP Reply #12 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 12:27:20 AM
Renown: +51/-16
Offline Offline

Posts: 2,189
YOU're an oral hormonal...

Um.

I'm... I'm gonna go over there now.
Logged
Our arms are waving, our lips are apart;
And if any gaze on our rushing band,
We come between him and the hope of his heart,
We come between him and the deed of his hand!
S*S Reply #13 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 01:50:39 AM
Game Master
Renown: +182/-69
Offline Offline

Posts: 5,942
Quote from: S_C on April 29, 2006, 11:54:02 PM
S*S and Bistro, this is an oral hormonal contraceptive they're talking about.

Yeah, so was the other one, but it also required an injection before you started the course of tablets.
Logged
...It's JOHNNY. Jeepers, how hard do you think it is to distract him?  It's like, more difficult to distract a kitten. -Majestrix
Most [political] problems are the product of complex conditions. They require trade-offs and policy expertise. They are not solvable through the mere assertion of sterling character.
What are good/neutral things about me?/Bad things about me?
8833_mr._gm.png
NoxEquites Reply #14 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 02:50:00 AM
Renown: +37/-1
Offline Offline

Posts: 3,639

I make shiny things, you need them.
Well as long as it can get past clinical trials and FDA approval cool. But they better make them at least in the same price range as women's birth control or it is pointless.
Logged
I have shinies you want. http://kinshar.dreamhosters.com/
Sean Reply #15 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 05:17:51 AM
Renown: +26/-0
Offline Offline

Posts: 2,531

Boom
I guess maybe I'd consider it.
Logged
I am both much more foolish and a great deal less absurd than I am likely to seem.
Badger Reply #16 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 12:14:26 PM
Renown: +169/-8
Offline Offline

Posts: 2,548

Swift as a deer, size of a dog, head like a monkey
If it makes it past the clinicals and the FDA gives it a go, I'd be comfortable with my partner taking it if he wanted to.  Ideal birth control means using two to three methods, at least one barrier (condom or diaphragm or cervical cap) and one chemical or hormonal (spermicied or hormone pills).

The thing is, even though women's reproductive system is cyclical, and there is a difference between disrupting a system and turning it off, there are a lot of side effects for some women with the female pill, and a lot of the men I hear talking (not here, but in the rest of the world) seem to be perfectly fine with women having increased cancer risks and other side effects but horrified at the thought that a male pill might not be entirely free of side effects, and would happily continue subjecting their partners to the effects of the female pill because 'the male pill is not safe enough yet' for them.  That kind of bugs me.  Now, if they don't expect their female partners to be on the pill either, then that's cool, but the double standard tees me off.

I'd never demand a partner use it, and if a partner said he wanted to, I'd probably still recommend we use a barrier method (even in a monogamous LTR, cause I'm still not quite ready to unleash mini-badgers on the world yet) to improve our odds of not conceiving.

And damn skippy insurance companies should cover it!  What the crap, they'll cover Viagra but not male contraception?  That's just seven different kinds of fucked up.
Logged
""We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area." - UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer
Barefoot Priestess
007bistromath Reply #17 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 12:26:09 PM
Renown: +118/-92
Offline Offline

Posts: 4,604

Left his attack boots in China
I'm not talking about an increased risk of cancer when I say that's something to worry about. I don't think anybody would really take that too seriously, because cancer in general is something people either worry about, or they don't. I mean, it seems like everything we put into our bodies has at one point or another been claimed to both raise and lower the risk for cancer. And pretty much the same situation for heart disease. Pointless! My worries (which, keep in mind, wouldn't stop me personally from trying it) are about more immediately damaging psychological effects, and whatever else might creep up.
Logged
The internet is a joke. And facebook is the punchline. - Bunner
Pixie Reply #18 in Re: the Male Pill — Posted April 30, 2006, 01:38:21 PM
Renown: +87/-2
Offline Offline

Posts: 5,583

Beldaran
Quote from: Badger on April 30, 2006, 12:14:26 PM
The thing is, even though women's reproductive system is cyclical, and there is a difference between disrupting a system and turning it off, there are a lot of side effects for some women with the female pill, and a lot of the men I hear talking (not here, but in the rest of the world) seem to be perfectly fine with women having increased cancer risks and other side effects but horrified at the thought that a male pill might not be entirely free of side effects, and would happily continue subjecting their partners to the effects of the female pill because 'the male pill is not safe enough yet' for them.  That kind of bugs me.  Now, if they don't expect their female partners to be on the pill either, then that's cool, but the double standard tees me off.

Exactly. I don't have many serious side effects from the pill, more than slightly increased mood swings and perhaps a little weight gain. But there's a history of breast cancer in my family, and there is a genetic component to it. The pill increases that risk, and while the risk from that is still pretty small, it still does make me a little nervous. Long term use and starting use of the pill before the age of 20 are also risk factors. Lucky me. Wink

From this website: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/oral-contraceptives
"The results indicated that the risk of breast cancer was significantly increased for women ages 20 to 34 who had used OCs for at least 6 months."

That's "significantly" increased. And that risk stays around for ten years after you STOP taking it. And for me, even after 10 years it won't be back to normal, because I started it at 18.

And that's not even going into the elevated risk of cardiovascular disease or DVT, espeically for women who also smoke. That's why they have to take your blood pressure before prescribing it, and ask questions like whether or not you smoke and how much you drink.
Logged

I think this weight was a gift, like I had to see what I could lift.
94273_mr._artist.png12595_mr._tester.png