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> If the female birth control pill had the same safety profile, it would be the leading cause of death in 20-45 year old women. Out of curiosity, is this takin

> If the female birth control pill had the same safety profile, it would be the leading cause of death in 20-45 year old women. Out of curiosity, is this taking into account that the base rate for male suicide in the US is normally ~3.5x higher than for female suicide? Seems like you'd want to calculate a relative risk delta, rather than comparing the male delta to the female base rate.

nothrabannosir 10y ago
Not leading cause of suicide; leading cause of death. He's saying if this thing killed those two men, that's 1/320, which is (wayyy) more than poison (top 1 currently for 25-34, ~1/10000). You'd need to adjust for how many women actually take the pill; after a cursory glance a conservative estimate seems to be 10%, but please don't quote me on that. http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa-cause-of-death-by-age-and-gender http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa-cause-of-death-by-age...
- cjbprime 10y ago
  I think my comment still applies. It's not reasonable to imagine that women would be subject to a male death/suicide rate by taking this drug. Gender has a larger effect on those rates than the drug likely does.
  - Nexxxeh 10y ago
    Can you reasonably separate them out when it's a drug that's specific to the gender? I understand the point you're making, but your parent poster's reasoning sounds eminently reasonable to me. The thing for men only to address a male problem exacerbates men's tendency to kill themselves? "Yeah, but men kill themselves more often anyway" seems like the less reasonable argument. I might be looking from a more... Emotionally involved perspective?
cauterized 10y ago
Women are actually more likely to attempt suicide. Men are more likely to succeed because they tend to use more violent methods (e.g. firearms vs pills). But yes, depression is a common side effect of female hormonal birth control too. Women who start the pill are twice as likely to subsequently start taking antidepressants as those who aren't on the pill.
cperciva 10y ago
No, I didn't take that into account. You're right that the suicide rate might be inflated in part because men are more prone to suicide to begin with; but even if you adjust for that, you'd be looking at a drug which would be as dangerous as smoking.

nothrabannosir 10y ago

Not leading cause of suicide; leading cause of death. He's saying if this thing killed those two men, that's 1/320, which is (wayyy) more than poison (top 1 currently for 25-34, ~1/10000). You'd need to adjust for how many women actually take the pill; after a cursory glance a conservative estimate seems to be 10%, but please don't quote me on that. http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa-cause-of-death-by-age-and-gender http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa-cause-of-death-by-age...

cjbprime 10y ago
I think my comment still applies. It's not reasonable to imagine that women would be subject to a male death/suicide rate by taking this drug. Gender has a larger effect on those rates than the drug likely does.
- Nexxxeh 10y ago
  Can you reasonably separate them out when it's a drug that's specific to the gender? I understand the point you're making, but your parent poster's reasoning sounds eminently reasonable to me. The thing for men only to address a male problem exacerbates men's tendency to kill themselves? "Yeah, but men kill themselves more often anyway" seems like the less reasonable argument. I might be looking from a more... Emotionally involved perspective?

cauterized 10y ago

Women are actually more likely to attempt suicide. Men are more likely to succeed because they tend to use more violent methods (e.g. firearms vs pills). But yes, depression is a common side effect of female hormonal birth control too. Women who start the pill are twice as likely to subsequently start taking antidepressants as those who aren't on the pill.

cperciva 10y ago

No, I didn't take that into account. You're right that the suicide rate might be inflated in part because men are more prone to suicide to begin with; but even if you adjust for that, you'd be looking at a drug which would be as dangerous as smoking.