A new male contraceptive is working, but side effects have forced him to interrupt his trial.

A new male contraceptive, which is injected into the body through injection, shows almost one hundred percent effectiveness. 320 men took part in the trial. The drug is hormonal, its effect is based on a decrease in the quality of spermazoids by acting on the pituitary gland.

Tests of the drug for a year have shown efficiency of 96% (only male volunteers who have a sexual partner, a woman) participated in the project. Despite the effectiveness of the contraceptive, experts say the need to refine the contraceptive, because it has many side effects. Among them - depression and mood swings, muscle pain, acne, increased libido.

Of the 320 men who participated in the experiment, 20 volunteers had too strong side effects. These men decided to stop testing the drug. Among the most obvious side effects of the drug are one case of depression and one case of problems with heart rhythm. One study participant committed suicide, but as it turned out, it had nothing to do with the side effects of the hormonal contraceptive.
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The tests stopped early after the decision to stop testing the drug was made by an independent observer panel. Experts felt that further research could be too dangerous for research participants. However, 75% of volunteers said they were satisfied with the contraceptive and would like to continue using it after the drug is available.

Mario Festin, a representative of the World Health Organization, said : "The result of the work showed that we had the opportunity to get a hormonal contraceptive for men, which removes the risk of an unplanned pregnancy from a partner." Richard Anderson, the author of the study, believes that the male hormonal contraceptive is much better than condoms.

The study of the effectiveness of the drug included two stages. At the first stage, men used a contraceptive drug developed by specialists, and women used traditional methods of contraception. At the second stage, the couples who agreed to take part in the experiment used only contraception for men.

Injections contain a special form of the hormone of the progestogen group with a long duration. The most significant progestogen in the body is progesterone. The hormone used by scientists blocks sperm production. The pituitary gland is responsible for this process. Unfortunately, when using a progestogen, the level of testosterone in the male body drops, so you have to inject this hormone as well. “You need testosterone to feel good,” said Anderson.

During the year, men were given an injection every two months. During this time, four cases of pregnancy were recorded among the partners of the experiment participants. The effectiveness of an injectable contraceptive for men turned out to be approximately equal to the effectiveness of birth control pills for women. As for condoms, they do not provide such a reliable protection. Their effectiveness is only 82%.

The developers believe that it is necessary to carry out further work on the drug, so that you can bring it to the market for contraceptives. Despite the fact that the injection contraceptive has shown quite high efficacy, the hormones that are used in this preparation must be further studied in order to obtain a sufficient balance between efficacy and safety.

According to experts, over 40 years, scientists have not made progress on the issue of creating contraceptives for men. Current work may be able to make a difference. True, the drug must also be refined to make it safer. Perhaps, experts say, it is worth changing the concentration of the active drug. In order to understand what dose of the drug will be safe for a person, but still effective, it is necessary to conduct an additional study of the contraceptive.

But the fact that the creation of a male contraceptive is a matter of the near future, almost no one doubts. “The results allow us to say with confidence that this can be done,” said Anderson.



True, some experts believe that avoiding the side effects of the drug will not be easy. “Most of the previous attempts to create a reliable contraceptive for men with hormonal action led to the appearance of side effects that could not be avoided. This study shows better results than previous work, but still, they do not seem to me to be too good, ” says Sarah Jones, a pharmacist.

Recently, Jones published a study where he demonstrated the possibility of using drugs that reduce sperm motility. In her opinion, this is a more realistic way of creating contraceptives for men.

“Acceptable contraceptive for men can be a drug, the use of which does not cause problems. This is the main question in the current study, ”says fertility specialist Allan Pacey from Sheffield University.

The results of the study of the effectiveness of the drug are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

DOI: 10.1210 / jc.2016-2141