Cancer Medicines Testing Syringe for Pedophilia Prevention

Less testosterone: Researchers test cancer drug for pedophilia
According to estimates, there are about a quarter of a million men with pedophilia in Germany. Experts are not yet agreed on how best to deal with the problem. Swedish researchers are now testing a drug that pedophiles should take the desire to have sex with children. The remedy is actually used to treat cancer.

Around 250,000 German men with pedophile tendencies
It is estimated that there are around 250,000 men with pedophilia in Germany. However, not every pedophile child abuses and not all sex offenders are pedophile. Pedophilia is categorized as "Sexual preference disorder" in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) of the World Health Organization (WHO). Physicians speak of a mental disorder when the urge for a sexual relationship with children is permanent and the pedophile is at least 16 years old. According to the current state of research, a pedophile tendency exists for a lifetime and is not curable. Among experts it is disputed how the problem should best be dealt with. In Sweden, a prevention program is now being tested to make pedophiles feel like having children.

Swedish researchers are testing a drug designed to make men with pedophilic leanings crave sex with children. Those affected receive an injection that reduces testosterone levels enormously. (Image: Cherries / fotolia.com)

"Reduce the number of sexual abuse"
As reported by the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, scientists at the university have started a study testing a drug that aims to make children with pedophile tendencies lose their appetite for children. The goal since "to reduce the number of sexual abuse," said study leader Christoffer Rahm. According to the information, the prevention program is based primarily on the lowering of testosterone. According to Rahm, high levels of testosterone have a significant impact on risk factors of actually abusing a child. Among other things, the male sex hormone leads to a high sexual excitability and reduces the self-control.

Drug has been used for a long time against cancer
According to a report from the scientific journal "Science" of the "American Association for the Advancement of Science" (AAAS), the Swedish researchers use the drug Degarelix, which rapidly reduces testosterone levels. The drug has not been specifically developed for this treatment, but has been used for some time against prostate cancer. The 60 volunteers in the study, who have sexual fantasies about minors but have never committed any abuse, have already completed prevention programs at Karolinska Institutet or have contacted the Karolinska Institutet via a help hotline.

Effect lasts about three months
One half of the subjects receive an injection with Degarelix. After three days, no testosterone is measurable. The effect is said to last about three months. The 30 men in the control group are injected with a placebo, whereby none of the participants learn which group they belong to. The study, planned for 2018, will also investigate whether pediatric risk patterns can be seen in the brain. "The goal is to find objective markers for whether a pedophile-minded man is actually taking on a child," said study co-author Benny Liberg. In a previous study of the Kiel sex researcher Jorge Ponseti was determined by the brain activity that pedophiles react more to children's faces than their healthy counterparts.

Behavior should be influenced by medication
In the current study, MRI scans capture the brain function of study participants while viewing images of half-naked people of all ages. According to the scientists, especially the brain regions are interesting: those for the control of the sensory perception, which monitors the own body and the area, which avoids unwanted consequences of the behavior. "We want to influence exactly this behavior with the pharmaceutical intervention", so the bark expert Benny Liberg.

No miracle cure for pedophilia
The Swedish scientists do not see their approach as a miracle cure for pedophilia. Nevertheless, they hope that in the three months with reduced testosterone levels psychotherapy and other measures will be started that can permanently prevent pedophilic attacks. Among other things, in the prevention programs and behavioral therapies that have been used for a long time, people should learn to recognize and avoid situations in which they could even be dangerous for children. The so-called "chemical castration", in which drugs - as in the current study - suppress the sexual drive, have also been used for some time. At the beginning of the year, news from Japan caused quite a stir. There are sold special child dolls for pedophiles, which are supposed to help to protect children from attacks. Psychologists disagree as to whether puppets can actually stop pedophiles from projecting their fantasies on real children. (Ad)