Hormonal Injections As A Means Of Male Contraception

Hormonal injections as a means of male contraception

The safety and effectiveness of injectable contraceptives has been tested on 320 healthy men aged 18 to 45 years.

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Currently, there are a large number of contraceptives for women - they are available in different forms and women can choose the one that suits them best. The choice for men is much more modest and is actually limited to condoms or vasectomy. The existence of an effective remedy for men would significantly reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies.

Mario Philip Reyes Festin, spokesman for the World Health Organization, explained that using hormonal contraceptives can indeed be effective in male contraception.

Read more: Non-hormonal male contraceptive successfully tested on rabbits

The results of tests of a non-hormonal male contraceptive have become known. Vasagel, the main component of which is styrene-alt-maleic acid (SMA) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide, has been successfully tested on rabbits.

The safety and effectiveness of injectable contraceptives has been tested on 320 healthy men aged 18 to 45 years. All of them had at least a year in monogamous relationships with women, whose age was from 18 to 38 years. Before the start of the study, the men underwent an examination, during which their semen was also analyzed - the sperm count in it was normal.

All men received 200 mg of long-acting progesterone (norethisterone enanthate) and 1000 mg of testosterone undecaonate for 26 weeks. They received two injections every eight weeks. Participants in the study regularly donated semen samples for analysis. In the course of the experiments, couples could only use other non-hormonal contraceptives.

After the sperm count fell below 1 million per milliliter, men underwent a series of tests, after which a stage began, during which only the effectiveness of injectable contraceptives was assessed. The men continued to receive injections and no other contraception was used. Participants gave semen samples every 8 weeks - sperm counts remained low.

The authors found that this method of protection really worked - it was effective in 96% of cases. However, it cannot be said that hormonal injections were devoid of drawbacks - the study participants reported depression, depression and other similar conditions. In addition, they noted soreness in the area of drug administration, decreased libido and the appearance of acne.

Despite this, more than 75% of men expressed a desire to use this method in the future.

Source: Male birth control shots prevent pregnancy: Researchers call for further study to reduce risk of depression, side effects

Men can take birth control shots to prevent pregnancy in their female partners, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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