One thing I know you're very adept at
is at female birth control,
but how about some news for the fellas.
Researches at the University of Kansas
are conducting a clinical trial
for a brand new type of birth control, its designed for men.
This is not a pill, it's actually a gel that's applied daily
to a man's arm or shoulder.
And during these initial studies, this gel has worked.
It's made from testosterone and progestin.
These of course are hormones designed
to decrease sperm counts.
In the trials, showing some promise.
No pregnancy yet in the couples that are participating.
I don't know the exact figures there.
The question is if,
if this comes to be,
it's in the marketplace,
do you two think men would actually use it?
I trust the gel but I don't know how much I trust y'all.
(laughs)
That's why you've gotta apply it.
Oh you've gotta apply it every night.
That's why you have to be the one that makes sure,
you put your gel on?
If you didn't, I'm going to.
Put it on you.
But you know that,
I think we really should level the playing field
that it's, the ownness has always been on women
to make sure that they're using contraception.
Men have to step up they're game and.
But Niti makes a really good point,
Dr. Niti, you're saying that if you're a woman
and you do not want to be pregnant
you have to be a little bit careful if a guy says,
hey, yeah I'm good, I'm good,
I'm on birth control.
Because he doesn't have to carry the baby.
That part!
Right. He doesn't have to deal with that.
So he can say, we're fine.
And you know. Oh yeah we're good.
And that's my only concern with male birth control
is if it becomes more commonplace,
you're going, I know men,
and you're gonna have a lot of men out there.
He knows men, he has friends, and they talk.
We all know there are plenty of guys out there,
who will say anything.
No, no, we're fine, we're good.
And say anything to not wear a condom too.
Yes.
And then they're like,
oh no we're good. (Dr. Andrew) I have
a latex allergy.
Polyurithene is great.
hunny. Oh (laughs),
thank you for pointing.
So I think where this may have more application is,
let's just say that you're, you're married
and for whatever reason, maybe female birth control
is not an option or doesn't work well.
Or you trust your partner,
and you want him to participate
in this whole birth control deal.
Absolutely.
And there could be some scenarios where a couple,
if they really, really don't want to get pregnant
but they're not ready to do anything more permanent,
you know, theoretically both members of the relationship
could go on birth control. Yeah.
Which would increase the chances of not having an oopsie,
right. Because birth control's not perfect, right.
I mean I don't know what the failure rate is
with female birth control.
What is it over the course of.
(Dr. Andrew) Like one or two percent.
(Dr. Travis) One or two percent, something like that.
Well it depends, even with, and you have to remember
that sometimes even females miss pills,
so it could be closer to like 91 percent.
If you have the, an intrauterine device
or the implant that goes under your skin,
then it's about as effective as having your tubes tied.
So those types of birth control are really effective.
So it's gonna vary depending upon which method you select.
I have some concerns about testosterone for men.
I would want to know
that it's not going to affect testosterone levels,
which we know could affect your prostate,
could shut down the normal production of testosterone, so.
I think the bigger question here also, however,
is the way that we reproduce is different.
Men, in any ejaculate, you're gonna see
potentially millions of sperm,
so if all you're doing is lowering that count,
if you're sperm are really mobile
and they're still working hard,
it only takes one.
With ovulation it's usually one egg, right?
So if you stop that process you can be pretty confident.
But with sperm, you're talking about millions.
The question is how effective is this
in truly lowering the count enough
that you won't have pregnancy.
And I think that's where
these clinical trials are important.
So far, so good.
No pregnancies so far.
(Dr. Andrew) Pretty impressive.
Yeah, I like it.
I do, I like what you said though.
I do think guys, we would love for guys to participate
but we just need to be able to trust the process.
The process. (Dr. Nita) Yeah.
What do you mean the process?
The process of using the birth control.
Well yeah to make sure that they're being compliant.
I have a sense up here that not everyone's
completely on board with the trusting part.
Okay. Audience, ladies. (Dr. Travis) Audience.
(Audience) No. (Dr. Nita) Anybody? No?
Alright then. (laughs) Yes? Okay.
(Dr. Nita) You would?
You must have a good guy at home.
I do think it's pretty funny
that only one member of our studio audience said
that they would trust the man
to actually take the birth control.
(Dr. Nita) I mean, I think, yeah.
