Ibuprofen Linked To Male Infertility, Study Says (theguardian.com) 131
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.
Not tonight, I have a headache (Score:2, Funny)
What about other NSAIDs? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Nearly all pain killers effect testosterone levels to some degree, everything from ibuprofen to naproxen to tramadol, and mixes like acetaminophen/oxy, acetaminophen/tramadol, etc. The urologist I go to tells patients to avoid lyrica and won't prescribe it for example, since he saw large drops in testosterone in the blood. It was a go to medication a few years ago for boys who had testicular torsion, since it did a great job of dulling the nerves from the swollen testicle. I'm sure you can see the prob
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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.
If that was the case, we would no longer be taking asprin. Given the profit still left to be had here, and given the name recognition built up over years, I think we can safely say that we will be seeing ibuprofen and all the current NSAIDs for a long time no matter how bad it gets.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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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.
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I have Tramadol, and it sucks compared to 800 ibuprofen, the prescription strength.
2 weeks of that will kill bursitis in your shoulder. Try it out.
Anyway I don't take 800 except rarely but I will take 200 or 400 once a day.
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AFAIK, cannabis does nothing against inflammation. It doesn't seem there is a big overlap with NSAIDs like Ibuprofen.
It may help reduce dependency on opioids though.
Alternatives for inflammation (Score:2)
There are some non-drug alternatives for dealing with inflammation that have seen positive results from research, namely foods with high amounts of anthocyanins.
As an example: "Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial":
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874510/ [nih.gov]
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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.
Have you looked into sub-psychoactive doses of certain old drugs, like DOM or DOI? These are being researched for their anti-inflammatory properties by Dr. Charles Nichols (interviewed about it here [smartdrugsmarts.com]). I'd like to try it myself for some inflammatory injuries, and some drugs in that family aren't even scheduled! The problem is that they're not really used for anything except research, so they would be very hard to acquire.
I'd feel somewhat safe taking them therapeutically, since they used to be used as party
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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
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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 bi
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Shit! (Score:3)
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.
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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.)
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And ED drugs are contraindicated for at least one fairly common health issue (heart attacks).
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Now you tell me? (Score:3)
This would have been useful information 20 or so years ago...
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One can imagine the effect in Women (Score:1)
With already lower testosterone levels than men, this sounds like a prescription for Vaginile Dysfunction.
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Actually, it makes it an even better ingredient in PMS drugs - since that's peak testosterone time.
Did they use soldiers? (Score:2)
Motrin is a US Army joke going back decades that it cures everything. Also called Ranger Candy cause the joke is the Army Rangers train so hard they take it all the time for your normal injuries and aches
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Don't forget to change your socks and drink plenty of water for that missing limb! ;]
Don't worry.... (Score:1)
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While this study may or may not actually be right, you really aren't stupid enough to believe you can read an occasional headline in pop-media and think you know what is going on in the scientific community are you?
And you aren't stupid enough to think most studies are published as pure unbiased science without pushing corporate agendas, are you?
Long term use (Score:2)
I knew someone in high school who took Ibuprofen all the time. I think she took it for headaches and then didn't realize just how much she was taking.
No over the counter drug is probably safe for extended long term use. If you're seriously using it that long, you need to find out what else is wrong.
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> An OTC drug can be perfectly safe for extended long term use -- but should only be done under a doctor's supervision.
Those two statements are inherently contradictory.
A drug by definition is meant to "mess you up". It should be pretty obvious that anything that can have a useful effect on your body will also likely disturb it as well.
Assuming that things are harmless is very dangerous.
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Probably, but the body also has self-healing capability, and if the amount of damage the drug causes is well below the healing ability it's likely to be safe.
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Estrogen in the water supply that gets there from women's urine after they take birth control pills is having the effect you're talking about. And it's not a conspiracy it's just the sheer stupidity and incompetence of the people in power.
Soy products also have that effect on men, and you see how the left lobby pushes soy m
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You really think the bumbling idiots paraded on stage are the people in charge?
You really think those in charge are people?
Therapeutic Dosage Range (Score:1)
Re:Therapeutic Dosage Range (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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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...
I see what you did there...
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... but more impotently, ...
Please tell me that wasn’t a typo!
I think it has less to do with stockholders (Score:2)
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We all know that legal weed has turned CO and WA into states with...less marijuana and alcohol abuse.
Its about time someone thought of those poor prison systems. Legalize weed and suddenly you lose out on all kinds of profit and jobs for those prisons, people start to abuse drugs less - even alcohol, you can't use it as an easy excuse to hassle minorities and most importantly - permanently ruin their lives, but the biggest loss here is the the billions of dollars that is going to be lost to big pharma when they are faced with a free alternative to many of their products. Get a grip, let's make America
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top 5% only see doctors
How is the work down on the docks, comrade?
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12cents? Damn, here in the UK it costs 53p for a box of 16 which I previously thought was cheap. And 10 times more in Ireland.
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Generic ibuprofen can be bought for less than 1 cent a pill
https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signature-Ibuprofen%2C-200-mg.%2C-1%2C000-Tablets.product.11489095.html
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What on earth are you talking about? Is your point that this study is bogus, and that patients should continue taking ibuprofen because it's cheap? That pharmaceutical companies shouldn't do research into compounds that would offset this apparent side effect? That such a drug wouldn't be worth giving to patients, no matter what the monetary cost?
There's an interesting conversation to be had in weighing the cost of drugs against their efficacy. Your comment, a logically incoherent rant that seems primaril
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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.
Possible research (Score:2)
I bet they can find a bio-similar drug that avoids the more permanent/serious issues and simply prevents fertility.
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If so, rest assured the religious nutjobs will try what they can to keep it from becoming widespread. You can't just screw around without fearing at least consequences if you can't be swayed to fear their imaginary buddy.
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It's called soy. Apparently.
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It's called soy. Apparently.
Several studies suggest that eating too much soy will cause cancer in men though, especially prostate cancer. I, for one, simply cannot digest it, so I won't try to eat it anyway.
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Unfortunately it seems to be a vital component of Brain Force Plus, which I consume in industrial qualities. That's why I'm, like, a genus and very stable.
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I think they'd need to find something more targeted than just interfering with testosterone production. That hormone does a lot of other desirable things besides generate baby seed.
Ranger Candy (Score:2)
There's a reason those large 800mg Motrin pills are called "Ranger Candy". I've seen MDs "prescribe" those horse pills scooped out of a cardboard box and into a plastic bag with a large metal scoop. Looked exactly like a kid buying jelly beans in bulk from a candy store.
Wonder if this latest research will affect the mentality in those high-speed low-drag military units where they tend to eat these things like candy.
Sadly, infertility is probably a better alternative than getting hooked on opium from Dr. P
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Not just Ranger Candy - it's been the cure-all for aches and pains among athletes for YEARS, since the only 'real' side effects have been Stomach/Intestinal problems for older people. When I was actively playing Football in HS/College, I was taking 2400mg/day (with a doctor's blessing) without *any* concern. It's been my go-to treatment for knee and back problems as I entered my 30's (albeit at a much lower dose.) Stacking it and CBD is almost as effective for me as stacking it and Percocet for short-term h
clickbait headline (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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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.
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Ibuprofen in 600+ on a regular basis will form a habit where you will get headaches unless you keep taking it. The only way out is to switch to something like tylenol and wean yourself off of the ibuprofen. I know someone who was in this habit and the headaches slowly became worse over the years until they were hospitalized because of the pain. Now they don't take any ibuprofen at all, and no headaches.
I have heard of this (I had a Health teacher in the 1970s who had the same problem), but I don't take such doses on a regular basis. I get headaches maybe about once a month, so I don't get hooked. But I also suspect that your anecdote has a lot of individual variation - which is why I gave my weight in my OP.
Re:clickbait headline (Score:5, Informative)
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1200mg per day is "massive"? Hardly. It's just 2 pills taken 3 times a day (once each meal). Not only is that perfectly normal, but I've been told by doctors to take at least that much, if not more (e.g., 3-4 pills taken 3 times a day) for weeks on end in various cases. It's well within the accepted range.
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If by MASSIVE you mean the recommended maximum dosage on the package?
I have a packet of generic ibuprofen right here: 2 x 200mg 3 times a day = 1200mg
More about long term usage than actual dosage. (Score:2)
No its the highest recommended dosage by manufactures. At the recommendation of doctors I have taken dosages even larger than that.
However when I've taken it at such high dosages it was for acute temporary pain (i.e. injury trauma). However once past the hump which is probably measured in days, or perhaps a week, dosage down to more reasonable levels for a few weeks.
Sure if you take it for months at a time it probably isn't so good for you. Though at a guess if you are, likely the alternative isn't great ei
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Male Birth Control pill? (Score:2)
What about effect on females? (Score:2)
Finally ... (Score:2)
... a Pill for men.
I win (Score:2)
Two birds with one stone (Score:3)
Sounds like it takes care of two headaches at once.
So in other words... (Score:2)
Suck it up, be a man
Pain is just weakness leaving the body
Why are you taking it for that long? (Score:2)
That's the real question: why are men taking high dosages for that long? If they're in that much pain, they're not going to be real interested in sex, anyway.
On the other hand, if you're taking it for bad headaches... and you regularly work 60+ hour weeks, perhaps you should consider cutting back to 40 hours, and getting enough sleep.... (Or are you actually an indentured servant?)
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I agree. It really depends on what they're taking it for. If it's just headaches and they work too much, they should consider a different job if they can't cut back the hours. I know several guys that need to rethink their life because they work themselves to death everyday and they aren't in a position to where they need to do so with family and kids to take care of for example.
It's good to shoot for the sky (or space), but you need to be able to enjoy life too. It's usually younger guys that make the mist