We have good news and bad news. The good news is that we might be getting male birth control out in the market soon. Bad news is that it’s put on hold after 20 out of 320 men dropped out of the study after experiencing some side effects.
A study published on The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism states that they gave 320 men two hormone shots of progestogen and testosterone for 26 weeks. The authors noted that it was 96 percent successful in suppressing men’s sperm count, but had to stop the testing stage after 20 men bailed from the trials.
“The study regimen led to near-complete and reversible suppression of spermatogenesis. The contraceptive efficacy was relatively good compared with other reversible methods available for men. The frequencies of mild to moderate mood disorders were relatively high,” the study read. “The most common adverse events were acne, injection site pain, increased libido, and mood disorders. Following the recommendation of an external safety review committee the recruitment and hormone injections were terminated early.”
To put it simply: These men opted out of the tests because they were experiencing almost the same things that women experience when they take birth control―acne and mood swings. How ironic.
Meanwhile, Mario Philip Reyes Festin, one of the authors, is still hopeful that this will push through. “The study found it is possible to have a hormonal contraceptive for men that reduces the risk of unplanned pregnancies in the partners of men who use it,” he says in a statement.
Hey, if science made female viagra possible (albeit problematic), then we might be seeing more male birth control options in the market sooner.
[Oyster]
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
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