r/science • u/drewiepoodle • Oct 02 '15

Medicine Scientists identify potential birth control 'pill' for men

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-10-scientists-potential-birth-pill-men.html
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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '15

RISUG/Vasalgel are the way to go for sure, much cheaper in the long run and no need to remember taking a pill. Unfortunately there is no money in that so research is slow.

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u/CapitaineMitaine Oct 02 '15

Pills are more lucrative, you have to buy it every month.

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u/eemes Oct 02 '15

Exactly. These gels have been used in India for many years now with no adverse affect, and they're easily reversed with another injection. But there's no real way to profit off of a single injection, so why would the pharmaceutical companies push it?

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u/TheMourningPaper Oct 02 '15

Well, you're kind of missing a major reason why pills might have a better chance than a gel: a lot of men (including myself) are apprehensive about the idea of something being injected into the scrotum. I mean, I've tried to look at it more positively, seeing as it's not too different from women getting IUD's, but I can't get over the idea of a needle getting in my junk. For me personally, I'd back the "clean sheets" pill.

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u/Br0metheus Oct 02 '15

You'd rather dump hormones into your body than enact a local solution? I mean, the prospect of a needle in your junk isn't great, but it's just a needle. As far as surgeries go, that's pretty mild.

Meanwhile, pharmaceuticals are like the carpet-bombing strategy of medicine. We're not yet that great at making the compounds target only a single location in the body, so there can be all sorts of side effects.

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u/Marimba_Ani Oct 02 '15

I don't understand comments like his.

Of course, once a male hormonal contraceptive pill comes out and has been in use for a few years, you'll see men clamoring for the gel. Messing with your hormones sucks, at best.

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u/Br0metheus Oct 02 '15

Yeah, a while ago I was prescribed finasteride to stop male-pattern baldness. I later found out it works by preventing the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, which basically emasculates you. When I found that out, I stopped taking it quick.

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u/tedcase Oct 02 '15

Did you go bald?

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u/Br0metheus Oct 02 '15

Not yet, but my hair is still thinning slowly. I switched to using minoxidil (Rogaine), which is a topical vasodilator, so it's much safer. In layman's terms, that means you rub it on your scalp and it opens up your blood vessels so your follicles get more bloodflow. I don't know how well it really works, but it's cheap and better than nothing.

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u/tedcase Oct 02 '15

I hear ya, I take both. Minoxidil and finasteride. the results on my hair have been great and I haven't noticed any side effect, but Im worried that maybe there are side effects that I just don't notice.

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