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New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects
- rjh29 5y agoI feel like there's a male birth control on the horizon every year for the last ten years. This one hasn't hit human trials yet so no point getting excited.
- metaph6 5y agoI've got the same feelings but it seems a bit more promising than others, and least here is some poor mice the trials conducted on
- slowmotiony 5y agoThere is Trestolone which is studied and shown to be very effective (patients had zero sperm in their ejaculate after several months of administering the compound), but there are hormonal side effects similar to testosterone, which kind of explains why it's pretty much only used in the bodybuilding community. The pill in the article is a non-hormonal one, which is interesting
- pcthrowaway 5y agoVasalgel (a reversible injection that prevents your swimmers from making it into the sauce) is another interesting one that has never made it to release for perplexing reasons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_inhibition_of_sperm_under_guidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_inhibition_of_sperm...
- recuter 5y agoThis one requires two injections right into the most awkward bit of ye old twig and berries, the first to numb the pain from the second. Afterwards you walk around sore with a swollen scrotum for a week. Doesn't seem that perplexing. Unless you're into that sort of thing, not that there is anything wrong with that..
- pygy_ 5y agoVasalgel (a.k.a. RISUG) may not be for everyone, but even 1% of the male population would be a gigantic market, and yet RISUG never found corporate backing (it's been around for 40 years). I've been waiting for this for more than 10 years now, ever since I've learned about it.
- burnoutgal 5y agoHave you ever read about what it's like to get an IUD inserted? I would recommend checking that out and then asking whether a small injection to the genitals is really the worst possibility.
- recuter 5y agoI'm sure nothing could be worse. You're welcome to volunteer to get either procedure, both, or neither. I would recommend elective medical procedures stay optional.
- CodeShmode 5y agoI've heard someone say the pain from inserting an IUD was so great they backed out halfway through the procedure.
- micromacrofoot 5y agoare the side effects really that much worse than what women have to deal with with their birth control? I’ve heard a lot of hormonal horror stories from women on the pill
- recuter 5y ago
- gidorah 5y ago
- grapeskin 5y agoWhat? Any attempt to regulate or restrict birth control against women is consistently held up as the “patriarchy” because it restricts women’s autonomy. Now not restricting it is patriarchy? Seems like literally everything is. So far, men’s birth controls haven’t been legalized because the risks have been pretty massive. The last trial I heard of had a massive risk of suicide. “Patriarchy” has no part of it.
- nicoburns 5y ago> The last trial I heard of had a massive risk of suicide. “Patriarchy” has no part of it. Existing birth control options for women also have high risk of mental health issues though. So people might reasonably question why were approved for women but not for men.
- slothtrop 5y agoA not-insignificant demographic that takes the pill do so in part to regulate hormones to the extent that it alleviates menstrual pain. It's not just to prevent pregnancy.
- recuter 5y agoIf you were a true ally you would be more like Alex Hesse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yabNRlqCCk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yabNRlqCCk
- collegeburner 5y agoYeah most AAS or SARMs makes good birth control. Downside is it often needs to be run with a test base (depending on what stack) and it can be very hard to get natural test production and fertility back to what they were after going off. PCT is often not pleasant and still may not get it all the way back. I have a few buddies who ended up on lifetime TRT in early to mid 20s doing this. Stuff like HCG can help but is more $ and hassle. There was also some research that suggested it may itself be suppressive over a long enough term, though I think that's no longer current. Bottom line: playing with the endocrine system is risky and not always reversible. I will likely not be taking a hormonal birth control untill I see a lot more longitudinal data.
- antoine-levitt 5y ago(in mice)
- sgt 5y agoAre we mice or are we men?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nix23 5y agoMillencolin - Man or Mouse Mouse more than man, yes I am ;)
- stjohnswarts 5y agoWith decreasing sperm counts we may soon have the sperm count of mice...
- ly 5y agoThis should have been in the title, it’s such an important part of the results that it seems disingenuous to not include it.
- timmg 5y agoIn Western countries and in Asia, fertility rates are pretty (edit: low) these days. I fear they would collapse with the introduction of a male fertility pill. In some sense, maybe that's not bad. The world is probably overpopulated. But if fertility drops too fast it creates real demographics problems in that few young people need to support many old people.
- captainmuon 5y agoWhy? That would only be the case if a significant number of pregnancies is unwanted. We should do everything to stop any unwanted pregnancies, and then add incentives and aid for everybody who wants to have kids (e.g. parental leave, free daycare, and so on).
- timmg 5y agoA random google finds this: https://www.brookings.edu/research/preventing-unplanned-pregnancy-lessons-from-the-states/ https://www.brookings.edu/research/preventing-unplanned-preg... > Unintended pregnancies are at an all-time low in the U.S. but still represent about 45 percent of all pregnancies.
- ada1981 5y agoDo they tease out unintended from unwanted? 45% is wild, and doubly so that this is an all time low. I could find a million dollars and it would be unintended but not unwanted.
- goda90 5y agoWhat happens to YCT529 when it's used up or if more than is used up in the body is taken? Is excess urinated out? What impact does that have on the environment?
- mensetmanusman 5y agoIf the body broke it down it wouldn’t be effective, so it would pass through and be expelled like most everything else the body is confused what to do with. Anything that affects mammalian fertility can have downstream effects unless the molecule is particularly unstable. Instability however is contrary to a birth control business model, as it introduces uncertainty (see: biodegradable conditions).
- newaccount74 5y agoAren't most medicines broken down in the body, and then excreted via urine? It's just a question of how fast the breaking down happens.
- NaN1352 5y agoUmmm, if it’s not 100% effective…
- kevincox 5y agoNo birth control is 100% effective other than abstinence.
- WinterMount223 5y agoAsk Mary
- nextlevelwizard 5y ago
- hleszek 5y agoWell... There is also anal sex.
- thatjoeoverthr 5y agoNone of them are 100% effective, even ones that sound 100% effective.
- someweirdperson 5y agoIt IS 100% effective. None of the male mice it was administered to became pregnant.
- nextlevelwizard 5y agoAs far as I'm aware no male mouse has ever become pregnant
- bagacrap 5y agobigot!
- gwbas1c 5y agoMeta: Title should be "Male birth control pill to begin testing in late 2022" > will begin testing in human clinical trials in the third or fourth quarter of 2022
- runeks 5y agoI agree completely. The title — even though it’s the original — should be changed because it’s deceptive; e.g. by replacing “prevents” with “could prevent”.
- jtc331 5y agoInteresting that they don’t mention vasalgel.
- XorNot 5y agoProbably because I've been hearing about it for a decade and it's gone nowhere? Conspiracy whatever, given the normal effects of vasectony (sensitization of the immune system to sperm) I suspect that's been the problem with it.
- jtc331 5y agoMy understanding is that RISUG (similar) is in late phase human clinical trials in India. Lack of that issue (sensitization of immune system) was supposed to be one of the benefits of RISUG, right?
- mrfusion 5y agoHow does this not cause side effects if it blocks the cells ability to process vitamin A?
- collegeburner 5y agoI don't know what kind of longitudinal research exists with this drug but it seems shutting off anything in the testes for long enough causes them to start atrophying. I fear this might be the case even if it doesn't present like the juicehead shrivled nuts.
- MrSlonzak 5y ago
- ada1981 5y agoIt’s kinda wild that women are basically expected to take on all the side effect risk of birth control and no one even questions it unless side effects are actually death (Remember Yaz?). I’m also curious about how blocking vitamin A doesn’t have side effects - don’t I need vitamin A?
- zeckalpha 5y agoNutritional vitamin A can be absorbed separately from vitamin A receptors in the neural system.
- cik2e 5y agoI don't think "expected" is the right word when a) it's the only option and b) women suffer most of the consequences of unwanted pregnancies. I guess there are child support for males wrt to (b), which could very well incentivize the use of a male pill.
- ada1981 5y agoMen can get vasectomies. But the basic point is that, it’s only even considered a possible option for men if there are no side effects. Yet all forms of birth control for women have side effects.
- throwaway00893 5y agoMen can get a vasectomy, if they are 100% sure they don't want kids, ever. Women can get a copper IUD with no hormonal side effects inserted in a few minutes and will be protected against pregnancy for up to 10 years (or can opt to have it removed at any time). If pregnancy occurs, women can just order pills online [0] that will stop it (as long as they detect it in the early stages). Men have no control in the matter. If a woman decides to go forth with a pregnancy against the man's will, he can either abandon his child and have his wages garnished for 18 years, or accept his new situation and become a father. To be clear, I think the idea that a woman's partner should have any control over whether she gets an abortion is absurd. But women clearly have the advantage when it comes to reproductive choices right now. I hope male birth control pills can help change that. [0] https://www.plancpills.org/ https://www.plancpills.org/
- netfl0 5y ago“No obvious side effects” wcgw
- shetill 5y agonext generation males about to have a blast
- kkfx 5y ago"without side effects" is a hyper-bold statement, to be really sure about side effect any drug demand around 10 years after a certain level of adoption... For instance vasectomy for years was considered "safe" even if "definitive" know we know, at least many suggest that vasectomy increase risk of prostate and testicular cancers. So far the only "permanent" (well, for a certain number of years) contraceptive method we have is the copper IUD, it have menstrual cycle side effect but nothing irreversible or really dangerous.
- manuelabeledo 5y ago> at least many suggest that vasectomy increase risk of prostate and testicular cancers There is no consensus on this, though, and meta analysis suggest that there is no significant connection [1]. [1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2643778 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...
- motohagiography 5y agoBirth control pills for men are great and all, but there is an aspect to it where having kids would require both parents' stated preferences and revealed preferences to align, and that sounds like some interesting relationship game theory.
- darkerfire 5y agoSounds more like the game was and is no more. Let's be honest, not a lot of men try to trick their partners into unexpected pregnancies. Edit: oh I guess you mean that men will pretend they're not taking the pill while they are. I agree with you then.
- motohagiography 5y agoGiven both sexes have multiple options for reliable birth control, there is no serendipidy, accidents, or "fate," which previously means at least one of them has to own the decision of being open to the likelihood of conception. Adding a male birth control pill means both have to actively decide to forego birth control to concieve. From a probability perspective, one person "forgetting," can happen, but both? In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "not bloody likely." I would forsee the impact of a male pill as, at absolute minumum, a decimation of replacement level fertility, if not a total evolutionalry select-out of cultures and populations that adopted it. Males who inevitably moralize not propagating will necessarily die off from a genetic perspective. Nice to have the option as a teenager, but in aggregate, as a strategy it seems unwise.
- matheusmoreira 5y agoI've posted about this game theory before. With male and female birth control, there are 4 possible outcomes: 1. Man and woman don't use birth control. Conception is likely. 2. Man uses birth control. Woman doesn't. Conception is unlikely. 3. Man doesn't use birth control. Woman does. Conception is unlikely. 4. Man and woman use birth control. Conception is extremely unlikely. Conception is only likely when both partners want it. When only women have access to effective birth control, risk of pregnancy is dominated by their decisions. They have a lot more leverage and therefore power: 1. Man has no birth control. Woman doesn't use hers. Conception is likely. 2. Man has no birth control. Woman uses hers. Conception is unlikely.
- t0bia_s 5y agoWithout side effects. Sure. That is what was told for female birth control pills. Or smoking tobacco.
- at_a_remove 5y agoThe type I am really hopeful about target the flagellum. The only portion of the human body to have this would be sperm cells. Backing up a bit, it's very hard to target a medicine to something highly specific, since it circulates through the body, which re-uses proteins all over the place. This, though, represents a single target. It's a shame. Vasectomy can have complications which are often not discussed in the slightest. My father had some of those, though not as bad as others. Occasionally, the results are permanent, despite a reversal of the vasectomy. To paraphrase Orwell, imagine a boot stamping on a your balls—for ever. I am trying to remember the musician who killed himself over it.
- NotPractical 5y agoDupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30805136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30805136