Will this make it safer for everyone, or possibly riskier with people being less concerned with contracting HIV or herpes?

I think pre-exposure prophylactics are amazing, and that everyone engaging in the hobby both as a provider and a client should be on them.  They reduce the spread of infection amazingly well, and when coupled with traditional prophylactics, reduce risk of exposure to almost nothing.  There's a big public health uproar about it right now saying that those that use these measures won't use condoms; condom use among average people is incredibly lacking in the first place.  At least those not using condoms reduce their risk and risk to others.  Most studies done on personal efficacy concerning condom use and pre-exposure prophylactics actually show an INCREASED use in condoms once on the medication.

Really though, people should be vaccinated if they haven't been exposed, and those of us who do what we do should be responsible for our health and the health of others.  Everyone takes responsibility for their health and well-being in a different way, and I think this is a great way to enhance condom usage and prevent the spread of STIs.

Yay, science!

It's an estrogen-based contraceptive. Women who smoke, get migraines, or who react badly to estrogen won't be able to use it.

It's a similar mentality to that of people who say children shouldn't receive the gardisil vaccine because it "tells them it's ok to have unprotected (or god forbid *premarital*) sex". People like that are unbelievably stupid and immensely frustrating to me....

I agree completely. It's amazing that people would rather risk their health and the health of others than discuss sex and responsible sexual behavior.

It will not replace a condom, but wonder what kind of side effects one can expect from this kind of devise.       Wonder how it might change our sexual behavior.

If it's like any other antiviral medication, we don't really know long-term side-effects. Antiviral medications have only been on the market for 10 years or so.  Some side-effects have been noted from antiviral medications like Truvada, and those effects include reduction in liver and kidney functions.  Most of these reductions are only seen in people who already have compromised livers and kidneys.  Those on ant-viral medications should be (and normally are) closely monitored with quarterly blood tests.  

The long-term side-effects of estrogen-based birth control are numerous.  Increased chances of breast and ovarian cancers, mood-swings, increased risk of stroke due to blood clots (most of these are exacerbated by smoking, which is why most OB-GYNs won't prescribe estrogen-based birth control to those women who smoke, or to those women who suffer from migraine headaches).

So, in this particular mix of medications, there are a lot of side-effects, but only women would be suffering from them due to the fact that this is a contraceptive/antiviral mix.  There are other options out there, should women wish to avoid the pitfalls of estrogen-based birth control and still be protected against HIV (HSV is another story; most people have HSV and don't even know it because most remain asymptomatic).  

Both men and women can be proactive about protecting themselves and others against HIV by regularly and properly using condoms and getting on Truvada.  It's difficult to come by, and often times it has to be prescribed by an HIV/AIDS specialist (not many primary care physicians even KNOW about Truvada as a pre-exposure prophylactic drug, despite the drug having been FDA-approved for that use since 2010).  Truvada is normally only prescribed to those people who are in groups considered "at-risk"; i.e those having sex with multiple partners, those having regularly unprotected sex, intravenous drug users, etc. Birth control options with far fewer side-effects also exist too.  

Technology has always changed the way people have sex, and it will continue to do so. Humans have been preventing conception since the beginnings of history, and preventing and curing diseases since the inception of scientific reason.  Change comes with an adjustment and realignment of morals, limits, boundaries, and in my opinion, should not be seen as negative.

 


-- Modified on 3/7/2014 12:40:20 AM

Remember it is a "New" product and with "New" products they need to be tested on "'real" people.l I personally don't want to be that guinea pig. It has been tested in a lab and tested many times I am sure. I would like to keep my safety first before I use anything like this.
Love
Zana