What we found Sexualized drug use among men who have sex with men This review: explores the impact of sexualized drug use among men who have sex with men, with a particular focus on chemsex (a behaviour) and methamphetamine (a substance associated with chemsex) describes effective interventions to address individual harms associated with each and discusses sex-based sociality, a concept that describes how social life among men who have sex with men may be sexually constructed (7). Use of methamphetamine is of particular concern, as its use is consistently associated with sexual risk behaviours among men who have sex with men (3, 13). Chemsex (also known as ‘party and play’) (10) is a specific subset of sexualized drug use, and has been associated with increased sexual risk behaviours and negative health outcomes (1). ‘Club drugs’, such as cocaine and ecstasy, appear to be less popular than drugs associated with ‘chemsex’, which include methamphetamine, mephedrone, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), and gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) (9, 12). In the past decade, drug use trends among men who have sex with men have shifted (9-11). Among men who have sex with men, aggregate research has identified a relationship between substance use and sexual risk behaviours (8). Sexualized drug use is when recreational drugs are taken in order to facilitate sexual activity (2). Considering the context of sexualized drug use may lead to a better understanding of how methamphetamine is used as a social and sexual resource among men who have sex with men (6) more qualitative research exploring the social-sexual context is needed (7).Several interventions - including motivational interviewing and contingency management - report concurrent, efficacious effects on both methamphetamine use and sexual health-related outcomes among men who have sex with men (5).Methamphetamine is the most commonly reported drug in sexualized drug use among men who have sex with men (2).Chemsex (1, 2) and methamphetamine use (3, 4) are associated with sexual health-related harms among men who have sex with men.What are effective interventions and/or services that address chemsex and methamphetamine use among men who have sex with men (including prevention, harm reduction, engagement in care and treatment)?.What is the impact of sexualized drug use (specifically of chemsex and methamphetamine) on the health of men who have sex with men?.“Or, their partners may think on some level, they can ‘catch’ it. Rosser said the silence and shame surrounding the topic allows ugly myths to flourish - like that gay sex somehow “caused” their cancer. “But if your partner is another man, and his drive isn’t diminished, it can be a real problem.”
“ with a postmenopausal wife who doesn’t want sex anyway might just accept having a low libido,” he explained. In all, 15 percent of all men who’ve had a radical prostatectomy exhibit some kind of “treatment regret.” For gay men, so long ignored by medicine, Rosser believes those rates are much higher. He’s heard men say their doctors “neutered” them. “Your doctor might tell you you’ll have an erection strong enough for intercourse, but anal penetration requires 33 percent more rigidity,” Rosser said. And he’s keenly aware of how little information is available for men like him. But he’s not just a researcher - he’s a survivor himself, diagnosed last year at age 59. University of MinnesotaĪ professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Rosser has received a $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to put together the first comprehensive rehabilitation program specifically for gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer. Simon Rosser, PhD, MPH, is a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
“The medical community say, ‘We don’t want to ask older heterosexual men questions that might upset them,’" Simon Rosser, an LGBTQ health specialist and co-author of " Gay and Bisexual Men Living With Prostate Cancer," told NBC News.
It’s impossible to know how many gay men have been diagnosed prostate cancer, because questions about sexuality are rarely included in research studies. “To go into a urologist office, you walk in with all this shame and inhibition,” Brass lamented. That discomfort can spread to gay patients. They can’t even breathe the words ‘anal sex.’ Talking to a man about it is just impossible.” "If you bring another man, they don’t know what to do. “If you’re gay and you go to a urologist who hasn’t dealt with gay men, they’ll tell you, ‘Bring your wife with you,’" he said. That’s true in the doctor’s office, too, Brass added.